The Three
by Jae Bee
Summary: AU: Years ahead of when BD ended, will later tie in to my rewrites, not as much the saga. A story about people, bonded closer than most families. Spanning decades of struggles, joys, and laughs. With a side of twists turns and terror. Read, review, and enjoy my darlings! It seem's I'm back.
1. About Them

Preface:

There is a boy. Beaten down with words and shoves. Desperately wanting to prove he belongs and to cherish all he's found.

There is a girl. Bounced from place to place, never finding home. Wanting to nurture and plant routes so strong, all can bloom.

There is a boy. Burdened with feeling things so deep all he can see is how he must protect, but he can't see where he is going.

And there are the ones that love them.

And further, there are the secrets of how they started, and what connects them.


	2. Words

**Gilly**

New York City was under siege. The invader was merciless. Flooding the skies, the streets, no corner was left unaffected. Though the inhabitants had felt a sense of security just days before that the worst had past, still, it came.

Snow.

The March gale had quickly wiped away the memory of the 60 degree days the New Yorker's had briefly glimpsed. At this point in the season the city didn't fall with a hush, but with a whimper.

Distanced from the lights and bulk of the crowds, mouses clicked and fingers tapped on touch screens in the basement level of an old brick building. Gone was the charm of the structure, and in it's sted a square yellow sign read Post-It-Notes. The interior was as gloomy as the outside, but an attempt at whimsy had been made with the unconventional furniture. Among the juts of table and boards, a woman glared at her screen as if offended. Her eyes, though big and the color of a less snow affected sky, rolled as she tossed her blonde braid back.

The eraser of her pencil bounced off the desk rapidly as she tapped it to some tune or another. Her eyes stung from the latest match against the computer screen, so she blinked and groaned to herself. The sound went unnoticed by the others in the room. They were huddled over the old pin pong table they had spread various iPads over. While her article had been done for the last forty minutes, Gilly Lind willed herself to find better words.

Lately she hadn't been satisfied with her work. It had been a year since she graduated college and started at Post-It-Notes, and as grateful Gilly had been to have a job that kept the wolf merely pawing at the door, this wasn't what she had pictured. Part of that was the times. Technology had sped up so fast and was still going. The newspaper job she had once dreamed of was a few and far between catch. Now it was websites with click bait titles and pictures more than words.

And still, Gilly obsessed over those words.

It wasn't as if she was working for google she lectured herself as she ran her hand over the back of her neck. Hell, she was barely a step above a ghost writer since it wasn't her name on the article. She was one of three that kept the Rank Tank section going, and with options like buzzfeed out there, the basement housed site was barely going. Gilly wrinkled her nose as she looked at the Rank Tank tab. All those articles on plays, concerts, and rallies in college, and now she found quirkily paragraphs to put under pictures of various ranked shops, foods, even celebrities.

Mitch, the Rank Tank creator would find different topics to rank twice a week. None were hard hitting, but it was understood the tab was a space filler. Then Liza would hunt up the pictures and forward the list to Gilly to shape on the site and add those over analyzed words. A career it was not, but paired with her part time work and roommate, she was getting by, and in the city that was no easy feat.

Giving in to her frustrations, she forwarded her work to Mitch and began shutting down her station. Her go to "it isn't forever" chant played in her head just as the door opened. Gilly raised a brow as Cole Masen came in, handing an SD card over to an intern. He worked all over the city in photography. Freelancing, and on no regular schedule she could tell for PIN. He was tall and lanky, wearing a slicker sizes too large for him, but meant to protect his camera bag. His hair was an overgrown light brown that tended to fall towards his green eyes. He had rarely said more than hello/goodbye to her, but today he glanced by and walked over.

"You look thrilled to be here." He said, his voice low but not with the shyness she expected.

"Cutting it close aren't you?" She asked him as he placed his camera bag on the edge of her desk.

"It's nothing for tonight, just have a few shots to sell. May come in handy for you guys down the line." Cole rolled his shoulders and smiled at her. "So what have I missed?"

Gilly blinked but returned the smile. "Well the main group has made themselves a den over there going over pictures for the Swipe It piece."

"Do I want to know?"

"Dating apps, of course." Gilly chuckled as Cole hung his head, sending melting snow dripping. "And now you know why I'm thrilled to be here."

Cole looked up, "And what did you write this week?"

"Best to Worst Lip Filler Jobs." Gilly narrowed her eyes. "Shut up."

Raising his hands in surrender, Cole laughed, "I said nothing. But that would explain the face, you're right. You gotta buck up kid, a jobs a job."

Now Gilly rolled her eyes "I've been lecturing myself on that all afternoon, don't start. But still I want to write something…I don't know. Just more than Tinder swiping I guess. I understand that its how dating is done now, but do we have to write about it? Soul mates, now there's a rare concept, let's find some of those and write about them."

Huffing out a breath Gilly took the slinky she kept on her desk, gave it a few testy shots and muttered "That was a lot wasn't it."

"It was, but can't say that I disagree, the concept is foreign enough these days." Cole looked towards the ping pong table with a sigh.

"Of course, you're a guy, not likely to believe in soul mates."

Now he raised a brow at Gilly. "I didn't say that. I believe in the things I've seen, and I've seen soul mates."

Something about his tone and the prideful look in his eyes had Gilly putting the slinky back. "Do tell."

"Well, I've found mine." Cole shrugged grabbed a chair from the empty desk next to Gilly and sat. "Years ago, actually. We met when we were kids."

Gilly smiled in spite of herself. "And you're so certain it's soul mate material?"

"Oh no doubt, I've loved them both most of my life."

The silence hung a few beats as they stared at each other. Gilly flicked her notepad closer to her and grabbed the pencil she's been bouncing. "Both" She repeated.

Cole smirked as he tipped his chair back. "I could keep up an idea that I'm a polyamorous stud, but fine. Both, as in my best friends since I was nine years old."

"So you're saying your best friends are your soul mates?" Charmed at the notion Gilly tipped up her notepad, started jotting shorthand.

"That'd be what I'm saying. There's nothing romantic about it, but they're the loves of my life." He shrugged again but smiled at her. "Usually people don't look at me like that when I mention it."

"Like what?"

Cole looked at her for a while before answering. For the first time since he sat down Gilly felt her face grow hot. His lips twitched once before looking down. "I don't know. People often seem indulgent about it. Throw in that one of them is a girl, and forget it. I can't tell you how many times we've heard the old 'boys and girls can't be just friends' chestnut over the years."

Knowing she would've had that though, Gilly felt a trickle of shame. But mostly, she was curious. Cole never spoke much to anyone yet here he was, sharing something she could tell was the most precious part of his life. He needed to talk she realized. And just like that, she found the words.

"Tell me about them."


	3. Authors Note

The previous chapter has been edited and reposted. In true writers fashion I obsessed over it until I figured out what was missing, and now it's better.

I'll try not to have many notes in-between chapters like this, as that's a bananas way to read. But it turns out writing is in fact not like riding a bike, and I needed to remember how to go about it.

Hey maybe take this time to compose a review eh? Not this second, but maybe after you read the next chapter. Suppose not enough has happened yet to get a feel. Perhaps I should pull a JK, off a character?

Nah. You're not invested in them yet. Haven't even met half. I'll wait until they're good and loved.

Alexa, play Welcome to the Black Parade.

Onward.


	4. Struggles

**Cole**

There is one thing every living creature shares through the course of their life.

We struggle.

Like everything there are different variations of struggle, but it is a guarantee for all. And just when we might think we have one sorted, another volunteers. Being alive is just rolling with them as they come.

For Michael Masen, called Cole, his struggles were often caused by the first he faced. Speaking.

As a child he had been shy. Slow to look at someone, slow to share. That had come from being incredibly smart. Once he came around to his teacher and the classroom, that spark of intelligence leaked through.

While eventually he lost the shy aspect and could answer any question the teacher asked, he rarely truly spoke his mind. He withheld, not quite finding his voice. When he did it seemed to get him nowhere good. And in the end of third grade, his teacher threw the curveball of suggesting Cole skipping a grade. His parents hadn't been surprised at the idea, but Cole was terrified. The kids at school had already given him a hard time for keeping to himself. How would older kids be any better? As a result, starting fifth grade a year early Cole faced a few new struggles.

Within those struggles, his whole life truly began.

Now eighteen years later he was reminded that the earliest of struggles still got him into trouble, if only in new ways.

Cole didn't know what possessed him to bring up the best parts of himself to a stranger. Sure Gilly was technically a coworker, but he never offered much to the people at his freelance jobs. Maybe he'd been too distant from home. Maybe the sudden snow put him off. Maybe he hadn't been feeling inspired with his own work recently. All he knew was he'd walked downstairs feeling almost heavy, and felt a connection in seeing Gilly look the same as he.

He thought he just intended to start a conversation. Get the social circuits firing and he'd be right as rain. But when the door opened to that part of himself, his lifelong struggle with speaking his truth seemed to drop away.

Cole looked at Gilly as her pencil scratched across the paper. _Tell me about them_, she'd said. He didn't know if she saw a story out of his own. He didn't know that he or his other halves wanted it told. But a weight lifted in just one person listening.

"Is this on record, because you haven't sworn the blood oath."

"Perhaps not but I'm a fast learner if there's some sort of secret handshake." Gilly countered with a grin, but put down her notepad. "That was rude of me though, I'm sorry. Your tone just sparked something."

"It wasn't rude." Cole tapped his camera. "Artists instinct. I don't often think twice before snapping a picture, why should you?"

"It's not very social though." She laughed.

"We have that in common. I came in here feeling like I needed to be social. I'm not used to that." Cole shrugged.

"Because of them."

Cole nodded. "Would you call yourself a social person?"

"When I'm not chained in here." Gilly chuckled. "Actually yes. I don't have a crazy active social life but I feel like I can meld in with the best of them when the mood strikes."

"I'm not. Definitely the least social of us, despite all their work." Cole smiled as their faces came to his mind, and looked back at Gilly. "Ethan was the popular kid, and that's translated to his adult life. He bounces around place to place, job to job, making friends wherever he goes. And Jenna, well." He stopped, shaking his head a little. "Jenna is an odd mix of being able to live in her own little world but she also needs to mother 9 out of 10 people she meets. They leave their stamp."

Gilly gave Cole a considering look. "And you don't?"

"If I do it's because of them. We're a balance though, that's why the term soul mate resonates. Put us all together and it's like one person was split in three. Hell, we got one year on the Harry Potter trio." Cole gestured to Gilly's golden snitch mouse pad.

"Don't think that has escaped me." She said, leaning back. "Where are they now?"

"Jenna is a couple hours outside the small town we grew up in. She works in HR. Ethan is on location in one of Carolina's right now."

"He's an actor?"

"A stunt double. He claims it's even better. We haven't been based in the same town since college years but Ethan and I manage to drop in on Jenna often, or the three of us get together in Forks. Ethan's mother is still there."

"Forks?" Gilly smirked.

"It's an unfortunate town in Washington." Cole mock shuddered. "We all ran for it first chance we got. Ethan's family has a nice spot though. That helps when visits need to be made."

"I hear Washington is beautiful. But I understand the small town itch. I come from one myself, just upstate." Gilly signed at her notepad and back at Cole, tilting her head. "So clearly between hating the work we do here and being small town kids, we're meant to connect."

Cole looked back at his camera. He'd always felt a need to merge his art with his friends. Documenting all their turns. Was this another avenue to that? "Clearly." He heard himself answer. "How about I tell you a little of us. The beginning. And if it clicks and we both feel something is there, then we can find the time and place to figure it out."

Gilly bounced her pencil a few more times. "I haven't written anything that clicks in years. I don't know what I'd write, and you'll want to talk to them about it first." She put the pencil down, leaning her chair as if to settle in for the story. "For now I'd love to hear the beginning."

In the end that had always been how Cole overcame his struggle with speaking. Knowing there was someone who genuinely wanted to listen.

So he began.


	5. Three Corners

**Then**

On the days the rain didn't reach the school yard of Fork Elementary, the children were in heaven. The playground was filled with friend groups scattered about, enjoying classic games as well as ones of their own devising. The ground was soft from the days before rain, and clothes got stained as bases were run. Amidst it all, three children were in their own corners.

Ethan Kelly was with his pals waiting their turn for the basketball court. He was sipping a Capri Sun and rolling his eyes as his pal Tony waved his arms telling the story of a no hitter he pitched in his baseball game over the weekend. Which was of course bull. But he listened and nodded at kids who said hi as they walked by.

Across the main field on the swingset, Jenna Anne Juette tipped her face back and sighed like she was sinking into a toasty bubble bath. In her mind there were few things better than smells, and fall was one of her favorite. Relaxed as a noddle she opened her eyes as she pumped her legs to get even higher.

Cole Masen sat cross legged under a tree not far from the kickball game underway. He liked to watch as kids zooming past made a blur of colors. He'd never been much for sports so he didn't ask to play. He knew it wouldn't be heard if he did. In the two months of the school year he hadn't found a friend amongst the fifth grade class. Then again he hadn't found any in third grade either, so it didn't bother him. Except for when one of the kids decided it was a good day to try to ruin his.

The good weather didn't seem to distract Jason Zillinger and his pack of mutually nasty friends from stalking over to do just that.

"Michael Myers" Jason taunted and with his knee pushed Cole over. "What are ya watching the game like a creep for?"

From her vantage point on the swings Jenna saw the move and narrowed her eyes. Another followed when Michael tried to get back up. She'd seen the kids in their grade pick on Michael from time to time but that was school life. Knocking someone over was a horse of a different color though. She straightened her legs, sending woodchips scattering as she stormed off the swingset, and towards the yard.

"Got nothin to say huh? You really are Michael Myers." Jason snickered as his friends joined in.

"Your name is Jason." Cole said quietly.

"What'd you say creeper?"

Even though he heard the tone he knew meant a punch would be coming, Cole sat up. "Your name is Jason. Like the bad guy in Friday the 13th. So why do you think you're cool calling me Michael Myers?"

Instead of a punch Jason pushed Cole back down with bottom of his sneaker and held him there, and started yelling.

Ethan turned his head at the shout and saw the punk of their grade holding some kids face in the mud with his shoe. He put down his juice just as he saw a girl with a crazy ponytail stomping past.

"Kelly, with me." She called in his direction without stopping to see if he followed.

And though he heard his friend's baffled laughter, that's exactly what he did.

The two of them reached the brawl, and Ethan whistled as Jenna marched right up and shoved Jason right to the ground. He sidestepped over Cole to block one of Jason's friends that had rushed forward. Cole pushed himself up, confused at the scene.

Jason was up and brushing at his football hoodie, glaring at Jenna.

"Oooo please, like you're gonna hit me." Jenna rolled her eyes. Go kick rocks Jason. Leave Michael alone or I'll hire Kelly and his band of merry populars to make sure these losers are the only friends you ever know.

"Wouldn't cost a dime." Ethan reached down to help up Cole and then shouldered him behind as Jason marched up, toe to toe with Ethan. "Go for it." He jutted his chin out like his dad had taught him.

Jason snarled and knocked into Ethan's other shoulder as he stormed off, hurling insults as his friends followed.

"Sure hope he learns some creativity or he just won't cut it as the school bully come middle school." Jenna snickered and then huffed out a breath as she looked at Cole. "I hope you didn't like this shirt, you got grass stains all over the front." She brushed at it and smiled. "Anyway. Hi Michael, I'm Jenna Anne, the muscle here is Ethan."

"You might be the muscle the way you pushed Jason over." Ethan shook his head, marveling. "Do we know each other?"

"Yeesh Ethan, we've had like 3 grades together now. Boys." Jenna rolled her eyes and smiled hopefully at Cole.

"You ok there?" Ethan asked him.

"Why did you do that?" He pushed at his hair that had fallen into his face and looked from Jenna to Ethan. "Both of you."

Ethan shrugged. "Jason's a jerk. Plus she told me to." He jerked a thumb at Jenna, who gave him a backhanded swat on the chest.

"Oh stop, I saw you getting up, you'd had enough too." She smiled at Cole again. He couldn't remember a time someone his age had smiled at him that much. "So have you, huh Michael?"

"Cole. I go by Cole." He said, and returned the smile.

"That's a good name. Nice and strong. You should speak up and have everyone call you that. Although I'm sure to call you Michael if you tick me off." She prattled on and steered them both towards the school as the bell rang.

Ethan waved over to his friends, and picked up the lunch bag that had been next to Cole. "I think you're in my class, move your seat by me, Mrs. Siegel won't mind."

Cole nodded, unable to say much else. Jenna mentioned that after school she was walking to the ice cream parlor in town before it closed for the season and asked if the boys wanted to go too.

And from that noisy laughing trip to get sundaes, they weren't in their own corners anymore.

**Now**

Gilly's chin rested on her hands as it had from Jenna's swing set jump and on. She sat back as she let out her breath and grinned at Cole, who grinned back.

"So. A story you want to hear?" As Ethan once had, Cole reached out a hand.

"Name the time and place." Gilly clasped his hand in hers and shook.


	6. Missing Them

Ethan

The sun was beating down an eighty degree day in Georgetown, South Carolina. Ethan Kelly, who had been raised in the chilly wet Pacific Northwest, was in heaven.

He parked on a dock for his lunch hour and looked out at the river, smiling, wishing his friends could see it. Jenna would be reading at the bank, feet in, with a mile wide smile at every bird she saw. Cole would be snapping away with his camera, angling to get the right shot of how the high grass danced.

Ethan signed as he picked at his sandwich. He hadn't seen them since late January. A long spell for them. Must have been starting to ware if all he could see in the places he went was them.

Then again they missed each other like a limb, no matter where they were.

They got together enough though. More than most friendships at this stage of life. Sometimes when Ethan was on location and knew it was a place Cole and his camera needed to be, he'd send him a ticket. His work in stunts had afforded them a few travel perks. And when his feet stopped itching he only had to drop in on Jenna to feel he'd been home. It had worked for the five years they'd all been off to their own ramblings.

For Ethan those ramblings had been expected. His father Dean had toured with his rock band all Ethan's life, and before having him Cecelia was a rover herself. And while through childhood he had felt rooted as his mother was in Forks, around eighteen his feet started to itch for travel. He started by trekking to Port Angeles to work as a busboy in a club every chance he got. By 21 he switched to tending the bar and occasional bouncing.

Ethan was twenty three when he'd had enough of the bar scene and hitched it to LA to try his hand at something new. At that point Jenna and Cole had started their own paths and unlike them Ethan never quite knew what he wanted to be doing. Some days he still didn't know. Only that he wanted to see.

And he had. He'd seen the canons of Arizona and the winters of Vermont. He and Cole had ridden horses in Montana and jet skis in Florida. He'd spoken French in Quebec, though not with the same skill Jenna had when she taught him. And if he got injured on a stunt he only had to think of how one day the job would afford him and his friends a long time wish.

Every five years they celebrated the bond they'd found. Humbly for the first, but when the three hit ten years they rented a cabin in Leavenworth and made the pact that for twenty they'd make it to Ireland. Now that was less than two years away.

Shaking his head at that, Ethan looked over at the cranes that were strutting across the river. The days shoot was an easy one. Just a few jumps from boat to boat, one into the water that night, and he'd be wrapped. There was a few days in between jobs he was considering using to see his mother. Depending on where his dad was touring maybe he could convince him to come with.

While his parents had divorced when Ethan was very young, neither seemed to truly let go. They kept a dedicated bond throughout Ethan's upbringing, and as an adult he had a hard time believing that was solely for his sake. There had always been love there, even through their lifestyle disconnect. Maybe one day those crazy kids would figure it out he thought with a grin.

As he finished off the last of his sandwich his phone signaled on the ground next to him. Reading the call out his grin brightened as he answered.

"Hey baby, how'd you know I was missing you today?"

"Must have been I was missing you." Cole teased back. "How's the daredevil business? You do that boat jump yet?"

"Tonight. And then I don't have to be back in LA until Tuesday so I was thinking of detouring to Jenna Anne's after we wrap and then the weekend with mom. You need anything done around there or picked up? I'm still hoping to be on your side of the country by April."

"Actually that's why I called. If you have time coming do you think you could push back the visit with Cece and stay in Bell Hill until I can get there?"

"Yeah I can do that. You alright? Is Jenna?"

"Promise, just a talk for faces not phones and there's a cheap flight Saturday. I was going to look into what adding LA to the trip would cost me but if the rich boy is free…."

"Keep it up, you're the one whose gonna be sleeping on that air mattress m'boy." He glanced at his watch. "Alright I got to get back. I'll get a flight to Jenna's for tomorrow morning, talk smack about you, and then we'll see you Saturday. Send her flowers for the oncoming storm."

"What do you take me for? Ordered them an hour ago. Fall well, watch those hips."

"Love you too." Ethan said as he stood. When he hung up he scrolled over to his airline app and as he walked back over to set he bought a flight to Sequim Valley. Then purchased another from NYC for Cole, forwarding him the info. He'd get yelled at, but being the rich one had its perks.

He nodded at some of the crew and security as they came into view and fired off a text to Jenna.

_Coming in hot. Too hot. You'll still be at work. I'll use my key._

_Better have dinner on the table when I get home._

Smiling at the quick answer, Ethan headed to the trailer set up for changing. At another chime he glanced at his phone.

_Thanks for the flight, dick. Await my revenge._

He pushed aside any worry he had that something was up. They'd figure out how to fix it if it were. For now it simply nice to know they wouldn't have to miss each other much longer.


	7. Home

Jenna Anne

In Bell Hill Washington there was an old, somewhat broken down house on the main road of the small community. It was white, though its paint long ago chipped to reveal grey, and generous of windows with sun faded blue shutters. The front boasted a wraparound porch, and the back a wooden deck that hugged the two story frame. Though it had once served as a library in its prime, it now held three uneven apartments.

Upstairs had a well sized one bedroom, where a couple in their early twenties had moved in after graduating college. A family took up the other half of the upstairs as well as a chunk of the bottom level, complete with the use of the front porch and half of the back deck. And then a woman was tucked into the slice of deck and downstairs remaining.

The first sunbeams struck through her door. The glass panels of which had been covered with a stain glass decal, making the beams a bit of a show. Tentative at the start, and then growing in strength as they reached the kitchen window. They teased the lace curtains and the stones scatted about the sills. The crystal catchers made rainbows trapped behind the blinds. In the doll sized apartment, those first beams had already reached the bedroom nook. The main space was set to a golden hue. On the folding tray that had been disguised to resemble a kitchen table, a phone say waiting to chime its alarm. Yet the mistress of the home was already awake, watching the dance.

Jenna scooted down lower in the bed, arching her back and pushing her head further into the pillow. The springs creaked, having her wrinkle her nose against them as she flopped back down. Replacing the mattress would be far less enjoyable than finding paper and paints for her décor experiments. And those experiments shone brighter than the beams this morning. Never one to waste a sunny day, she rolled out of bed to go to the windows.

One of the legs of her pajama leggings had twisted up her calf, and her braided ponytail had various deserters, still her smile was brilliant as she pulled open blinds and pushed back curtains. The crackle glass pitchers and vases she lined the kitchen window with twinkled as their jewel tones were warmed with the light. With a finger she flicked the crystal and set rainbows swirling over her already covered walls. She sighed as the heat kicked on, making the wooden chime she'd hung by the vent spin a song.

After clicking on the Keurig she turned back to the bed, fluffing the floral ring duvet over the pillows and setting the main room to rights. One end of the room held her bed, with two nightstands flanking, and a two seater sofa at the foot. To the right of the couch, her desk faced the window, and a tall bookcase sat next to the other. Her books, frames, and plants graced it as it faced her gold wing chair and side table that held her record player and knitting. No one could deny she made the most of the small space. The walls were covered floor to ceiling with either decals or paintings. Each room a different theme, yet all blending to be cohesive. More often than not she termed it all home fuckery instead of home décor, and Jenna was the first to admit, none of it was done 100% correctly. She had lacked the patience for doing the brick wall decals in the kitchen and desk nook justice that was for sure. But she had an eye, and was fearless when it came to the places display.

She'd wished for this, all her life. And she'd built it all on her own.

Though she had lived there over three years, the simple miracle of the fact hadn't worn off. She doctored her coffee and opening her door, leaned on the jam looking out her deck at the trees beyond. In lieu of yard, the house faced a swatch of woods that suited her to the ground. Against the chill, she smiled at them.

It was rare for Jenna to enjoy the mornings in her home on a week day. She was usually dashing out by this time, but her men coming to town warranted a day off from her job in Port Angeles. She'd been up late the night before, cleaning and preparing. She knew they wouldn't notice even half the details she put into it, but she'd know. And the place was one of her loveliest prides. Those men themselves, were her greatest. She glanced at the small coffee table made of a slice of tree trunk and branches. Ethan had made it a few Christmas's back. And the walls housed various shots of Cole's that he knew suited her home. Having both their work there made it not just hers, but theirs.

They dropped in when they could. Mostly separately, but sometimes together like this. March was an off time of year for it though, and a pleasant surprise. Even if it sent a few prickles of concern in the back of her mind. Ethan may have insisted Cole sounded fine, only as though something were on his mind, still Jenna would think on it.

For now she focused on getting ready and beating Ethan's flight in. She'd already cancelled his rental, but wanted to surprise him by picking him up.

She hurried into the second room by pushing back the sheer curtain covered in rosebuds and slapping on the switch that triggered not a lamp, but string lights. The narrow room held two dressers on either wall. One tall and one wide. The skinny desk she used for a vanity, and the antique trunk she'd kept her keepsakes in. Her second bookshelf doubled as a shoe rack on the bottom shelf. And on half the wall a rack of shirts and jackets hung. The apartment had been listed as a studio for this reason. The "bedroom" was more of a closet, so a dressing room was what Jenna made of it.

As a low rent window seat, she'd padded a storage tote with blankets and a patchwork quilt for the window facing the main road. It had been blind-less, with the lace curtains already open. But the stain glass decal was here too, so she could dress and undress with no issue. She did so now, dashing to the bathroom to shower. Also a small room, but the curved curtain rod made the shower seem larger.

Jenna loved few things more than her tiny home.

Once she was out and dressing, she heard her bell ring and frowned. The children next door liked to be the Dennis to her Mr. Wilson, but they were certainly in day care and school by now. At the whistle following the bell, she cast her eyes to heaven, yanking her shirt over her head. She walked into the main room as Ethan was opening the door.

"Absolutely not." She folded her arms.

"Accept the defeat." He answered as he plopped his bag down and opened the cabinet for a mug.

"You weren't landing until 11."

"You weren't getting out of work until 4." Ethan countered, smiling as he found the brew only he preferred.

"I cancelled your rental."

"And forgot that I know people. I told Del that if anyone should call pretending to be my wife, mother, maiden Aunt, and cancelled the rental to let me know. He did. I deduced that meant you were taking the day, so I changed to the redeye. Defeat, admit it." He turned back to face her, leaning against the counter as the two glared at one another.

It lasted another beat before he placed his mug down in time to catch her jump. He kissed her right cheek and she his left as both said "Baby."

Laughing Jenna slapped at his shoulders for Ethan to let her down, and then just looked at him as he drank her in as well. "Two months is too long, I've decided." She said and stepped back to let him get his coffee.

"Not quite two, but you're all quite right." He looked around and shook his head, but his smile was as bright as the sunny day. "You added more of course."

"Of course." Jenna agreed.

"It's good to see. Even better to see you Shine."

Patting her heart once at the nickname almost as old as their friendship, Jenna automatically starting taking out the fixings for a breakfast sandwich.

"My life to you. Outsmarting may be sweet, but I think I'm getting too old for redeyes."

"We haven't hit thirty yet friend, careful with that aging. Speaking of, how many years is Michael about to add?"

"I told you Jenna Anne, I didn't get a red flag. Just an antenna."

"I know, I know. He just isn't one for impromptu, that's you."

"A lovely poem."

Swatting him automatically Jenna turned on the gas burner and started heating sausage. When his hand covered hers she looked up. "Stop it."

"How long did it take you to simmer down after he called you?"

"I didn't need to simmer down." She yanked her hand free and met Ethan's eyebrow raise. "If it's not in the middle of the night, I don't need to simmer down."

"I know. I'm sorry, but you can "it's fine" me all you want, I know when you're on alert. And I know how much better you're doing than anyone else would be, even two years after the fact."

"This is about Cole, not me."

"We multitask."

"Well I don't need to go there Ethan." She turned to get out buns, silent until she was sure the edge in her voice was gone. "I know Cole is fine, I know it's not the same. Maybe there was a moment, as I'll probably always have when something out of the norm happens. But I really am fine." She looked back, gestured to herself. "Look at this."

Nodding, Ethan's easy smile returned, even though his eyes said more. "I'll be doing nothing else but looking. And you and I will do even more looking at our boy once he's here. For now, finish my meal woman."

"HAH." Rolling her eyes over the exaggerated laugh, Jenna walked back to the stove, kissing Ethan's hand as he squeezed her shoulder before going to the opposite cabinet for plates.

Pushing the dark aside, she glanced out her kitchen window, and reveled in the sunlight.


	8. Something Lovely

**Gilly**

In another apartment across the country, a young woman snarled at shrill beeps of her alarm. Slapping at her phone, Gilly let a few whimpers escape. Six thirty AM came too quickly by her estimation. Although her usual midnight collapse into sleep could be the culprit there. While trying to will herself get moving, her brain was a few steps ahead of her and flipping through the day ahead. She'd get a run in, and come back to get ready for the first half of the work day at PIN. Around five, she'd be behind the bar around the corner until close at 11. Then she'd crawl home, trying to focus on the good that would be only working one job for the following two nights.

Happy Friday, indeed.

Accepting the choice, Gilly shook some of the fatigue away and got up to get her running clothes on. Hoping enough of the sidewalks were cleared to make it count, she moved briskly but quietly through the skinny two bedroom apartment. Her roommate worked even later hours than Gilly did, and probably only just got in two hours ago.

The second she reached the outside of the building, Gilly closed her eyes as her head fell back in annoyance. Yesterday's snow was already well on its way to being a memory, but in its wake was still a slushy mess. Too much of a mess for running, so after a few pouting stomps, Gilly settled for a brisk walk.

She'd been in the city for years now and while she felt she had grown used to the neighborhoods and where she was going, the feeling of settlement had never come over her. Had never growing up upstate either. It had seemed the obvious move when she'd landed on journalism as a career. Though she couldn't call her job journalism, merely hoped it was a stepping stone.

Huffing out a breath she was pleased she couldn't see, she turned a corner and let her thoughts drift to Cole Masen and the possibility of the story.

During her schooling there was a few stories she told through her articles that gave her the buzz she felt now. None came this fast and strong though. Feeling uneasy about it, she wrote off the sensation as loneliness. She'd yet to find her tribe in life, and hearing of someone having theirs and such a lovely one just leaked into her own wishes. She could write of it, and maybe it would push through the cynicism that her generation was under. It could matter.

Perhaps she'd even be able to truly work with Cole. If his friends agreed, they could add his pictures to the story. The melding of images to the words would make it her first true collaboration. Already her mind drifted to a scrapbook style article, with cattycorner shots, made to look like scratchy polaroid's.

Laughing at herself, Gilly picked up her pace. Thinking too far, she lectured. She hadn't even written anything yet, and they didn't know if his other halves would be alright with the concept. Her heart tightened at the thought. Already attached to the idea, she knew.

Rounding another block she stopped short and blinked. Up the street was Cole, head down, walking right to her. If thoughts could conjure, she chuckled.

"Cole!" She answered his tentative smile as he raised his head. "Early bird are you?"

"More like night owl, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm a crank for seeing this hour. I wanted to get some dawn shots before the snow was gone." He gestured to his camera bag. "You?"

"Certainly not this early, but only time I can fit in before work."

"I'm actually really glad I caught you. I'm flying out to Washington tomorrow."

Feeling her heart tighten again, Gilly raised her brows. "Already, wow."

"Well none of us are all that good at keeping something to ourselves so better to bring it up now, and see what they think. Plus I don't want to get too invested before I know their feelings for sure. Might keep my mind from getting too far ahead."

"Oh good, reassuring that I'm not the only one. I've been going quietly insane since last night." Gilly laughed. "All these ideas are spinning. It's wild, I can't remember getting this pulled in."

Surprised at herself for saying it to someone she barely knew, she bit the inside of her lip. But Cole was quick to agree, leaning one shoulder on the building they were next to.

"I've already sorted through two USB's for pictures I want to go with it, and where I want to start and get to." He said in a conspirator tone. "I know usually with articles there's only a couple, maybe three pictures to go with it, but…"

"But this isn't just an article." She finished. "I think I've been realizing that. I've only ever written them. This would be a series. Its own segment, I don't know. And I doubt PIN would go for it, so we'd have to find a home for it elsewhere."

"Then we'll do that." He agreed.

"If Ethan and Jenna are on board."

"They will be." Cole nodded to himself and then looked back at Gilly. "I'm going because I need to tell them in person, and I need to see them anyways. But all three of us have been, unsettled recently. Something about this idea has me thinking it's what we're waiting on." He shrugged. "That sounds weird."

"It doesn't." Gilly shook her head. "Not to me."

"Might be that's why you're the one to hear it and find your own way to tell it." Pushing off of the wall, Cole pushed his cap further down his head. "I ought to get going, I have two projects I wanted to get done before I settle things to leave. I'll be back in town Monday."

"Sounds good. You have my number if you need anything."

"No I don't." Cole reached into his pocket.

"No? I guess yesterday was more of a day than I thought." Laughing at herself, Gilly took the phone he offered to enter it, and then just stared.

"You alright?" He looked over. "Oh. Well you knew we were cheesy."

"Lovely. It's lovely what you have." Gilly managed as she looked at his lock screen and the three faces looking out.

The picture was a few years old. She could tell by the longer length in Cole's hair, the stamp on his hand that the bartender in her recognized as an under twenty one. The unknown photographer captured him mid laugh as his barstool tipped into another's. His arms flailed out in front of him and his back leaned into Ethan's chest. Ethan's eyes were closed and his smile was stretched wide, Gilly could almost hear the yell. One arm caught Cole around collar while the other raised high and around Jenna Anne who was crouching atop the bar, hands stretched out to frame the two boys.

They could have been standing feet apart and still the love would pour out of the picture.

Even not meeting them, Gilly felt closer to knowing. She felt it looking at the way Cole seemed unconcerned at falling. The way Ethan caught him, and held Jenna with both affection and to keep her steady. The way Jenna looked at the boys rather than the camera. And she felt it in the click of recognition that confused and excited her.

Trying to keep her head, she swiped up and into Cole's contacts, adding her own. When she looked up to hand him back the phone he was staring back at her. She'd seen that look on his face before. When he had first shared about them. The feeling came over her again. That when he looked at her just like that, he saw enough that she knew she shared something back.

Taking a step away from him she perked up her smile. "There, so if you need anything or they have questions you can get in touch. Have fun, I know you're missing them."

Cole narrowed his eyes a fraction but nodded, "I am. See you when I'm back."

He started walking, half jogging the way she had come, as Gilly turned back to continue up the block. At the crossing she turning back once and saw him glance back with a crooked smile that had her wondering what it would be like to forget her responsibilities and run with him.


	9. Magic

**Cole**

The rain was falling in a cool mist with the clouds suggesting a more rapid fall. Still it did nothing to dull Cole's mood as he waded through the terminal with his backpack and camera bag. The small town boy he'd been felt the connection even at the Sequim Valley airport. And as he pushed through the doors to the parking lot, he felt it at the shout of his name.

Cole let out a whoop as he saw Jenna running towards him, her grey eyes dancing. He lifted and spun her once while she had one hand fisted in his jacket collar, the other grabbing his baseball cap and tossing it behind her, where Ethan would catch it, an old routine. Kissing her forehead once before dropping her, Cole felt most his travel fatigue lift.

Ethan's face was brilliant against the skies gloom as he put Cole's hat over his own dark blonde hair. "Cole." He said somberly.

"What, baby?" Cole replied, tongue in cheek.

"This is a Yankee hat."

Jenna gasped as she spun to look at Ethan. "Mere de Dieu. Take it off, cast it into the darkness now. Right now."

Cole glared daggers at Ethan before taking a physical step back when Jenna rounded on him. "Now Jenna, you can get your creole up all you want, but as someone who used to live in New York City you have to know how…"

"It is a Nationals hat, or an Astros hat, or nothing at all Michael. Blue and white aren't even your colors."

"If you recall you tossed my Nationals hat and this one didn't just catch it, he never gave it back."

"In the ninth grade." Jenna poked Cole in the chest.

"Yeah, you had plenty of time to replace it since then." Ethan put in.

"Who's not helping?"

Ethan just grinned and nudged Jenna to the side, putting one arm around Cole the other around her. "I'll help by driving. Jenna Anne has your favorite waiting at home."

Home. He may not have lived in Washington fulltime since he was eighteen, and he had never lived in Bell Hill, but it was true. Jenna kept it home for them. As did Ethan's family. His own, well. They were another story. Yet living in Washington most of his childhood, he responded to the familiar scenery.

His life in New York might have taught him how to apply his craft, but his love for photography had come from this state. The lush color, the turning weather, the people that lived much more simply. They all added to things he wanted to capture and make last.

Even now, after eating his fill of Jenna's barbeque chicken sandwiches, Cole's fingers itched for his camera. The apartment was always bright and filled with colors and textures. Ferngully, Jenna had named it before she had even moved in. Before she had even turned it into what it was. The name was from a fairy story they had enjoyed as children. Now that's exactly the tone it set.

Acres of flowers were dried in bundles and scattered all about. Books older than them piled here and there. Pots and vases held moss and figurines. The walls had paintings of gardens, mountains, woods, and skies. Jenna's own paintings of blended colors with movie and book quotes. And Cole's photographs of old houses, fields, and Jenna's own journeys were tucked throughout.

It was an unquestionably feminine space, but the magic and whimsy made anyone feel welcome. A museum turned sanctuary.

Pulling himself from the artist, he looked back at Jenna. They had stretched out on the couch and with a happy sigh she lounged back putting her feet in his lap. In her habit she smiled at Cole expectantly, as she had since they were children. Always ready to be there. He knew his buffer time was closing.

"There's something I wanted to run by both of you. An idea so to speak." He began.

"Ah. Here we are." Ethan tugged off the rubber gloves he'd donned to do the dishes and walked over to the arm chair.

"It's nothing bad but I need you both to tell me what you think about it. I'm not doing it if I feel like you're saying yes to make me happy. I mean it."

"We don't bullshit each other Cole, you know that." Jenna said.

"No, but we all have made allowances at some point. This can't be one of those. It's about the two most important things in my life, you two and my work so I need it to be something we're all in."

"Then we're listening, and we'll tell you." Ethan said, his voice firm. "No worries either way it goes."

"Exactly." Reassured Cole let out the breath he'd been holding. "A couple days ago I was dropping off some shots at an online publication I do freelance for. Which is a generous term."

"The knock off buzzfeed one?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah that one. Anyway, I think I was feeling down that day. You know I hate winter shoots this late in the season and we've all been missing each other so that clouded it too. So walking in a place like that on top of it, I don't know. I felt out of whack. There's a writer there. I can tell she's hated it since her first week, but she's always working. She just looked miserable.

He took a second to formulate how he wanted to go on. He knew his friends had a talent for reading his mind, so he kept his tone easy. "Misery really likes company I guess. I walked over and we started talking."

Cole took them through he and Gilly's conversation and the one the morning before. He altered eye contact with both and saw Ethan's face go through different animations while Jenna had a poker face, but for twirling the ring on her left thumb.

Ethan looked at Jenna and then was the first to speak. "Well. I guess I'm surprised a stranger would be interested. But it would be naïve to say I don't know why it wouldn't make a good story. We know what we have here. But Cole it could be…"

"It could be magic." Jenna jumped in, not looking away from Cole. She smiled as he squeezed her calf, and said to them both, "I know it could be risky or strange. But think of some of the things we've done together. Think of some of the people." She paused as her voice caught, clenching her jaw. "The people we've known." She finished. "Maybe no one would even want to run it, how can we know? But Cole needs to make it. And this girl can help him do that."

"She'll will be the one to make it a story. You know me, I don't talk much if I don't have to and it kind of flowed out. The way she looked when she heard just glimpses of us, I don't know. It made me think about the idea more, until now it's all I can think about. Making something else out of what we've shared together. It could be great."

"Magic." Ethan said with a grin. "It could be. If she can find a way to keep our privacy intact. Especially if we end up sharing about other people. A shadow ghosted his face for a second until he pushed it back. "When I'm in the city in April I'll want to meet her." His grin returned at Jenna's nod.

"I don't know when I'll be able to myself, so that's a good idea." Hiding a smirk she smoothed her sweater.

Cole looked from one to another. "I don't want either of you to start."

"Who's starting anything?" Ethan raised his hands. "My visit was already planned."

"You know that's not what I mean." Cole pointed to his nose and then the two of them. "Can't fool me."

"Ditto kiddo." Jenna wiggled her brows. "Don't worry though, we're not starting. I'm sure you and Miss Lind are the most professional of folk."

"Here here." Ethan agreed.

"We have spoken twice." Cole insisted. "Am I intrigued that she seems to understand us. Yes. Am I interested to know why she's so sad? Absolutely. I hope we'll be friends as well as colleagues."

"Colleagues. Yes I'm real interested in the facial reactions of my colleagues, aren't you Jenna Anne?"

"Immensely." Jenna patted Cole's arm. "Regardless. You have our blessing, and our interest too. You should ask Gilly if it's alright to send me something she's written. Best way to get to know someone is to see their art."

Nervous she knew he had recently done so himself, Cole nodded. "Thank you. Both of you. I'll keep you posted every step of the way and eventually it'll be all of us working on whatever comes of this. As always."

Ethan walked over and pat the side of Cole's head. "It's what we do. I'm proud of you for trying this." He sat on Jenna who huffed. "Now go get ready for the hike you know this one wants to take us on. The rest of the weekend is for us."

Cole got up and went to change in his hiking boots and wash up, so Ethan plopped into the spot he vacated. Once he heard water running he jerked his head at Jenna. "Well?" He asked low in French.

"He feels something for certain. It's up to them to figure it out." Her family's native language flowed easy even in whisper. She quirked a brow at Ethan. "The stories he'll tell her, you and I have gotten to share with someone before. He never has. It's important for him to get to do that."

"But you don't think storytelling is all that's there or you wouldn't have been twirling that ring."

Shrugging a shoulder Jenna signed. "Because I see him. I hear what he doesn't say." Reaching up and pinching Ethan's chin she added in English, "Just as I do with you."

"If this gets to the point where they tell the story about….people." Ethan reached out and grabbed her hand. "I need you to promise me that you'll talk to me if it gets hard. I know you won't tell him. He'll stop moving forward if you do, we both know it. So you'll lean on me."

"If you will when you talk about yours."

"Geall." Ethan said in Irish.

"Geall" Jenna repeated.

From the bathroom Cole leaned his back against the door, smiling. Sure his French wasn't as fluid as theirs but he knew enough. Just as he knew what parts of their stories he'd be attentive with. Those two could and forever would protect and put him first. It was the best magic they taught him, because he'd learned to do the same for them.


	10. The Start

**Gilly**

Over the churning of excitement coursing through her, Gilly decided the subway ride to Harlem gave her too much time to think. As the tunnels and lights flashed, she had to mash her lips together to keep from being the smiling weirdo on the rush hour train.

And failed often.

She was finally doing something, Gilly thought as the ride finally ended. It didn't matter what this experiment turned in to, she was doing it. She had committed. So much so, that she wasn't at her shift at the bar like she always was on a Monday night. After she had seen Cole on Friday she discussed some schedule adjusting with her boss under they came up with a solution that suited them both. Gilly would go from working their thirty hours a week down to fifteen. A decision her budget would scream from, but not her mind.

This was a part of it, Gilly reassured herself. Finding how much you could sacrifice of one thing to attain another would make earning this story all the sweeter. And she would earn it. Glancing at the directions on her phone she barely kept herself from rushing up the stairs.

Cole lived in a three bedroom, but made mention of only one roommate, whom he assured Gilly would not be home. She wasn't sure if he had wanted to make her more comfortable about traveling to a practical stranger's apartment, or that they wouldn't be disturbed.

She shook her head as the lecture about doing this at his place whirled through her mind again. Not that she was uneasy about her safety, though her upbringing made her always carry mace and an alarm on her keychain. No she was nervous about not being on her own turf when she felt her own control was already slipping.

This was a professional arraignment. She had a professional interest in these people. But yet, why had she clicked so far and so fast to a man she'd seen on occasion for a year? And worse yet, why was there a tug at the small peak she'd glimpsed of his friends world. Of the single photograph? It didn't compute, and that made Gilly's nerves dance along with her excitement.

Rounding another corner she saw him sitting on a short stoop. Well that wasn't accurate. She saw a shadow of a person sitting on the stoop of a building that she hadn't even checked the number of yet. But she knew. She felt the moment he knew she was there as well, even as his head tilted in her direction. And the nerves took a backseat.

"You made it." Cole called out as he stood. "I'll give you the dime tour and then we'll set up. I don't want to keep you late."

"I'm used to it. I'll get spoiled before I have to change my shifts back."

"I know what you mean. I have more shoots in the spring and summer, it throws me off in the winter." Cole led her up to the third floor. "This is it." He gestured to a door with chipped green paint before opening it.

Like most borough apartments, it opened to a narrow hallway that after a few steps split from the kitchen on one side and the living space on another. Two more doors littered further down the narrow walkway on each side.

"The living room, such as it is. The bathroom is all the way down on the left, same side as Keith's, but he's at his boyfriends most nights. My room and the guest room are on the right."

"A guest room." Gilly didn't bother to hide her surprise. "That's right up there with the dining room myth. What a concept."

"Part of the agreement." Cole half smiled. "It started as Ethan wanting a place to crash when need be and keep some things, rather than keep it all at his mother's. He travels so much for work he doesn't have his own place. But he and the rest of the family made it clear if I was gonna be on the other side of the country there was gonna be room for visits. So the rich boy rents it, but they all use it. It's come in handy for Keith too."

"Do you have a large family?"

Cole hesitated. "Open to interpretation." He jerked his head toward the living room. "We'll be in here."

Gilly took the desk chair she assumed Cole had dragged out from his room, and pulled her notebook out of her bag as he sat on the sofa. An album lay on the storage tub that was doubling as a table.

"I gathered some pictures I already had and printed others I thought would be useful. I figured we'd start with us as kids, though I'll give you background info on each of us before we'd met." He handed the album to her. "I don't know how you wanted to do this."

"I have some questions I mapped out that I might prompt when needed. But this is a good start to help see." Gilly flipped over the first page and smiled. "You have one from that first day?"

"Lucky shot. The ice parlor we went to after school had their anniversary sale going on. They gave out paper crowns to the kids there. The owner mailed this to Ethan's mother, she gave it to me when I got interested in photography."

The glossy picture reflected three children at a mint green plastic table. Cole looked much the same, his hair a shaggy sun streaked brown and his green eyes dominating a thin face. He sat in the middle, his smile was hesitant but he looked comfortable with the other two. To his right golden haired Ethan had the air of "cool kid" with the somewhat cocky raise of his chin, which revealed the smudge of hot fudge. Jenna waved out, her spoon a blur, the motion likely the reason for the rainbow jimmies suspended halfway to the table. She looked the least conventional with her steel grey eyes and larger than life brown hair. The soft waves were barely contained by the scrunchie holding it in its high ponytail. Gilly told herself anyone would have been able to see what she did looking at the three children. The sense of something starting.

"The eyes are pretty shocking." She said, staring at Ethan's bold blue. "That you each have different colors, that is."

"Something we'd play up from time to time if we were reading too much Harry Potter or something magic related." Cole grinned. "The one below it I printed from over the weekend."

So this was them now, Gilly breathed deep. She took in Ethan, the tallest of the three, his arm stretched to capture the three of them. He was smirking, his hair darker than when he was a child, his eyes with crinkles at the edge. Still the protector she could see from his stance and broad shoulders. But the rich boy as Cole termed wasn't apparent, nor that cool kid edge. Cole however, had clearly blossomed from the shy child in the picture above to a man that looked on top of the world, just being in the presence of his friends. His smile beamed like none she'd seen in person. His hair danced in an unfelt breeze and one arm brought Ethan closer, the other was low around Jenna, appearing to boost her into frame. Her smile suggested she was laughing, her hair was just as large but much shorter. Gilly envied the choppy style a moment, but noticed a deeper change from the girl above, or even the one Gilly had first seen perched on a bar. Something about Jenna's eyes, had Gilly suppressing a shudder.

"Ethan is the oldest, July of 90. Cole started, and Gilly replaced the album with her notebook. "He was born and raised in Forks. His parents met when his mom was on a vacation in Europe after graduating college. His father is a musician and had been on tour there. They fell for each other pretty quick. Ethan was born a couple years after that. Cecelia, that's his mother, is a homebody. She had inherited an old Victorian from her family when she'd still been in school. Cece comes from old money as they say. And Dean's band has always done well. Hence the rich boy." Cole grinned. "But none of them ever acted like it. Never treated anyone else as less. You wouldn't know it from any of them. Well unless you saw the house. Cece herself is very old world class, the house reflects that. Anyway, she preferred to be involved in a town. To have that home. I guess that was the main cause of her and Dean splitting. But he was always involved, always came back on a schedule to have his weekends with Ethan. And when we came along he included us. And I don't even know how Cece balanced all she did. To this day they're the most stable people I know. Well, apart from Jenna."

Cole grinned as if at an old joke. "She's from the other side of that coin. A whole different environment. Jenna Anne was born late August of 90 in Louisiana, where her mother Ruby and generations of the Juette family had been born since they came over from France. But none of the last few generations stayed there long. Jenna's grandfather Phillip was in theatre and bounced Ruby around often enough. Ruby inherited the gypsy feet. Phillip always said he and his wife were better suited as a couple than a couple of parents, and Ruby always reminded them of that, and one day decided to make it official. She dropped out of high school at seventeen and took off traveling. Somewhere along the line she met Jenna's dad. Of him we know next to nothing. Jenna remembers him vaguely. Sometimes he was there with them, but mostly it was her and her mom. They never stayed in one place longer than three months. Jenna went to school only when Ruby couldn't get night work. Otherwise she taught her." Cole paused and sighed. "When Jenna was six Ruby died. She doesn't remember much about that either. If this comes to you talking to her, I'm sure she could tell you more details. But essentially, she ended up with Phillip. He's." Cole hesitated, tilting his head from side to side to get the right words. "A character. H loved her, loved all of us that was never a doubt. But he lost his wife the year before Ruby and the two probably pushed him further into his eccentricities. Jenna was along for that ride. A lot of his bookings came from a small theatre in Forks, so Jenna spent a few weeks here and there staying in the hotel next door. Until something clicked with him that he could lose Jenna too if he didn't at least try at a somewhat normal home life, even if she was the Eloise of Forks. So they stayed for most of the school year once she was eight. There were still trips but by the time she met us, she didn't always get dragged off. Cecelia and my mom got together on that."

Gilly looked back up at Cole when he stopped. "And you? Tell me about you."

Cole sat back with his ankle over his knee. "I was born in 91, in Seattle. My parents Patrick and Norah, were teenagers when they got together and had me. The second they turned eighteen and saved enough we ended up in Forks. My mother hated the city, wanted to be somewhere quainter." He stopped to smile. "They were decent people. Simple. She worked at a grocery store nights and he at a gas station, so we didn't have much. They had ambitions but they wanted to make it independently more, so they did what needed doing and we were happy. But things were busy so they didn't notice I was different until I was well into elementary school. I hid it well too. I knew I was already odd man out with my upbringing at school, I didn't want to add geek to that. But eventually they saw, and it was recommended I skip a grade, maybe two. You know where that ended up." His glance landed on the album.

"You were an only child?"

"We all are. Funny isn't it?"

"Fitting, more like." Gilly smiled.

"Our families found it both. My parents enjoyed us most. That's not to say Ethan's or Jenna's didn't. We were all loved. But Ethan's house was full of lessons, Jenna's was eccentric. Mine was." He paused. "Mine was the fun. My parents clearly wanted a house full of kids and this was their way to go about it. They did everything they could with us, all the way to high school."

Something in Gilly clutched, this time not with excitement. But a knowing. Cole's jaw clenched as he met her eyes. "Not all of this is going to be a particularly happy story."

"Whose is?"

He stared at me while.

"The spring of our sophomore year they left on a Friday to travel to a housewarming party for old high school friends of theirs in Seattle. I was staying at Ethan's. I didn't think anything of it when I didn't hear from them Friday night."

Coles eyes tightened as he looked back at what Gilly couldn't see. "There had been reports about murders in Seattle but they weren't supposed to be in town, they were going to someone's home. And really, no one ever thinks it will be them. But it was. They had never made it to the friends they were staying with Friday night. They were found the next morning in their car in the parking lot of a grocery store two miles away. Cecelia got the call that afternoon."

He took a breath and looked at me. "Have you lost anyone?"

"Not how you mean, no." Gilly resisted the urge to shift in her seat. Something about the frank way he looked at her made her want to be as open with him as he had been with her.

"It's not quite as they say. Or at least not in my experience. I don't remember every detail crystal clear. I don't remember Cecelia even saying the words. I remember Ethan was out with his girlfriend but that didn't matter. We were all at home at each other's places. I was sprawled out in his room, pouring over the black and white shots I had just learned to develop the month before. And she opened the door."

His eyes shifted down. "Cece always calls for us. And if our mischief was up and we didn't answer, she'd still knock. Manners through and through. And she knew we could hear her heals on the wood, and that was our warning siren." He laughed but it was without humor. "I can't remember looking up at her, or what she said, but I can remember how cold I felt when she just opened the door. Next thing I remember was running over to the hotel. To Jenna. Ethan showed up not even a half hour later."

There was nothing Gilly could imagine saying. All the words of comfort he'd had to of heard over the last thirteen years didn't matter. But in the breath that escaped him and the fall of his shoulders, Gilly saw all she needed to do was listen.

"Which one did you end up living with?"

Cole's lips quirked. "Ethan. Unlike most thirty one year olds, my parents had a will. I had assumed my mother's parents would be listed, and I imagine they were. Cece told me they discussed it with her, just as Jenna's grandfather did. It was changed when we were in junior high."

Gilly marveled a moment and then going with impulse, leaned forward to take his hand. "That's part of the magic you know. For all of you. It's one thing these days for three children to grow together rather than apart. Let alone term one another soul mates. Yet for their parents to see their child that clearly, to understand and act on what they see, what a wonderful gift that is. It's terrible that they didn't get more years with you or you with them, but what they gave you is incredible."

Cole nodded and squeezed Gilly's hand, saying nothing for a few moments but staring at her fingers. Then he looked up and tilted his head. "I don't know anything about you do I? Don't get your back up." He added with a grin when she pulled free. "It's not about you yet, but I saw how you took in the pictures. As someone who sees not just looks, this is going to be about you too eventually."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Further, Gilly didn't know how it made her feel.

"Who the hell knows? Jenna and Ethan's gears are spinning over it but I haven't made up my mind. Neither have you."

"I want to tell a story. I want a story I tell to mean something to me."

"That's part of it."

"What's the other part, know it all?"

"You want to connect. That part is clear as day. The three of us wanted to connect to something." He pointed at the album. "And the universe found a way to bring us together. Like recognizes like in that respect."

"I connect to your story, true enough. That's why I'm here. It isn't to connect to you." Gilly met his eyes to fight what she realized was a lie.

Cole seemed unoffended, but something kindled in that deep green before it was guarded. "You know a bit about where we came from. I'll start with a few stories from those early years. You can get a vibe for who we were then. Does that work?"

Gilly nodded, and despite what she had said, found herself lulled into a calm as Cole's words took them both back.


	11. The Olympic Grand

**Then**

The June rain poured from the gutters, blurring the glass so the students gathered in room twelve could not see out the window. Some still tried, not held as others were by the reading of The Hobbit their teacher was delivering to them eagerly. Fourteen desks arranged to form a U facing Mr. Weis, who was perched on a stool. It was encouraged that during reading class, the last of the day on Fridays, that the fifth graders could participate as they wished. A small portion were actively listening. A few passed notes that did not go unseen, and one had pulled up his hood as if that hid the puffed headphones he boldly used as his escape. Three, were enthralled in their own ways.

Ethan sat with his back to the line of windows, tipping his chair carelessly as he listened. To his left Cole laid his chin on his hands and pictured Bilbo's swords glow as the Goblins neared. Across the boys, Jenna Anne sketched her imagining of The Shire, stopping every so often to smile at their teacher when he changed voices or to look over the room at her friends. The adventure was their kind of Friday afternoon.

In the seven months since meeting one another a routine had developed for the three. There had never been a discussion deciding what that routine was, it merely flowed. Though only Cole and Ethan were in the same daily class, they all shared lunch together as well as Friday reading. During recess Ethan usually had some pickup game with his crowd, which suited Jenna and Cole who preferred quiet outdoor time. And every single day they walked home with each other.

Even amongst ten and eleven year olds, there was talk of this development during the school year. Ethan's friends thought he was crazy, and girls asked Jenna which one she had a crush on. To Cole the whole thing was a miracle, he didn't care what anyone else said. And somehow, the other two felt the same.

Through the first holiday season they got to know one another's families and before they knew it, after school was spent together as well. Usually their time alternated from Ethan's house during the school week and Cole's on the weekend, but every once in a while the boys got to experience the chaos of Jenna's lifestyle. And now, for Cole's 10th birthday weekend, they were starting what they hoped would be a new tradition. A triple sleepover.

The plan was to spend Friday at Jenna's, Saturday at Ethan's, and Sunday at Cole's for his actual birthday. It was a tossup who was more excited, the kids or their respective families.

When the 2pm bell rang, it was the kids.

While Cole gathered his things, Ethan bounced in his sneakers willing him to hurry as Jenna dutifully walked up to their teacher to thank him for reading.

"C'mon c'mon!" He solved the matter by hitching the backpack onto Cole himself. "If we don't stop her soon she'll get going on the languages and we'll be here til Tuesday."

Both shuffled up to Jenna, and after a full eight seconds of waiting, Cole tapped one of her overall straps, and earned a back kick for his trouble. Ethan, who had been about to open his mouth to a whine, thought twice.

"I can't wait to hear the next two chapters Mr. Weis, see you next week!" Jenna's bright grin quickly vanished once the boys beat her to the door. "Cricket wings. You would think you two were the ones raised by wolves, not me."

"You're only saying that cuz you're used to living in a hotel. We aren't." Ethan wagged a thumb between himself and Cole.

"It's not the Plaza. We live in the innkeeper's wing, not a penthouse." But Jenna raised her chin a little higher. "Marigold set us up in our own room instead though. She said the place was pretty empty and she didn't want real children underfoot making a mess." Jenna spoke of the hotels manager.

"Real children." Cole snorted.

"Well yeah. I'm a delight." Jenna winked as they pushed through the big doors with the rest of the Friday excitement.

While they preferred walking when able, the rain was heavy enough that they piled on to the school bus that would get them to the main street in town. Jenna and Cole sat together, wiggling their eyebrows at each other when Ethan took a seat with a girl a grade ahead of them. Two stops later, they were at the Olympic Grand.

Attached to The Olympic Theatre, The Olympic Grand was both tall and wide, with spirals of dark wooden staircases leading to various balconies all the way to the ground level. The atmosphere reflected that of a theatre itself. When one walked through the door it was into a play, the characters being the staff.

Behind the front desk was Marigold Fielding. She had started at The Grand as a maid when she was nineteen. Forty four years later she ran the place as she pleased, working closely with the theatre, and in the last year developed the dream of adding apartments above the house of tragedy and comedy. The reason for furthering that dream, walked into The Grand with her two best friends. She raised a brow at the three of them to keep from smiling.

"Well, I see the troubles have begun. Tracking in mud and wet, Jenna Anne I thought I asked you to come in through the back wing."

"You did, but then our guests wouldn't have the true Olympic Grand experience now would they?" Jenna marched right up, tugging Cole by the elbow. "One is a birthday boy, remember."

"Hmmm." Marigold leaned over the desk. "I thought I heard talk from the kitchens about a huckleberry pie for such a reason."

As Cole's eyes widened, Jenna grinned. "Wouldn't you know it, that's Michael's favorite."

"Which room is ours's?" Ethan blurted excitedly and then gulped at Marigold. "I mean. Hello Ms. Fielding."

"Hello Mr. Kelly. I will have Brance take you all to your room once you march right back to the mudroom and take care of those wellies. Change into whatever shoes your parents left there for you please."

Jenna saluted and led the boys back. They had seen the service and innkeeper wings before, but were clearly eager to jaunt around the rest of the hotel. Once raincoats where unbuttoned and hung to dry, and boots stripped to be replaced with dry sneakers, the three sets of feet scurried back to the lobby, only to halt upon contact with a tall grave faced man.

"Hi Brance!" Rarely affected by the silent soldier like butler, Jenna beamed. "We're guests tonight!"

His expression still severe, Brance bowed his head in acknowledgement and led the three back to the main stairs. Ethan and Cole, still highly affected by Brance, kept their hands in their pockets and heads down and followed.

On the second floor Brance led them to the end of the hallway, next to a door that Jenna knew was one of the connecting entrances to the theatre. She resisted bouncing in her bold blue shoes. While the boys rushed into the room that housed two queen beds holding their weekend duffle bags, Brance leaned down to Jenna's level, handing her two keys.

"Mr. Juette is in the theatre, and Ms. Fielding requests you quietly and respectfully go over and let him know when the three are ready for your dinner. She said he's not to be neglecting his responsibilities."

"Oh, Papa would never." Jenna nodded with a wink.

Though his lips twitched, once he straightened Brance's mouth was a hard line as he turned to the boys. "Mr. Masen, Mr. Kelly." And then was gone before the two could manage a goodbye.

"Yeesh, he's like something out of Goosebumps." Ethan shivered.

"He is not, he's just serious. Plus I'll bet if anyone bad came to stay here they'd think twice with Brance around." Jenna pointed to a closed door. "We have a bathroom, Marigold said it's pretty quiet until tomorrow here but she doesn't want us wandering around."

"What play is Mr. J working on?" Cole asked.

"Who knows? I didn't think he was cast in anything, but he might be practicing for his next trip to New York. They're doing King Lear in the capital there this fall."

"Are you going?" Ethan tore his gaze from the TV channel list.

"Probably." Jenna shrugged. "If he gets a role it'll be a couple weeks of there. We'll come back though."

"Be sure that you do." Cole imitated Brance, and Jenna laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

For the next few hours they kept themselves occupied indoors as children of Washington State knew how. There was make believe and games played, and any arguments were met with laughter. Even as the rainy day turned evening, the room seemed to glow when they were in it.

"We better go see to Papa, or he'll lose track of time and get grouchy." Jenna said after Cole won a round of Payday.

After setting the room to rights, they secured the door with Jenna pocketing the key, while using the second on the connecting door.

It led to one of the hallways back stage, which was the only area they were allowed in when they visited the theatre. It was bright and covered in wood paneling of different shades. The floor had a thin carpet with swirls that gave the impression of tree roots. They wound their way until they met the side curtain, and a view of the main stage, where seventy one year old Phillip Juette was grasping at his heart, wailing.

"Shh." Jenna said quickly and slapped both hands on the boy's chests to keep them from walking further. "He's monologing." After a moment she too patted her heart. "Oh he's doing Claudio."

"Who?" Cole's eyes widened as Phillip collapsed to his knees and appeared to be begging at no one at all.

"From Much Ado About Nothing. It's my favorite play, but I hate Claudio. Benedick, now he's funny."

Ethan shook his head. "I don't know how you keep track of all of them. The Shakespeare ones he does all sound the same to me."

"IS THAT SOMEONE SPEAKING AGAINST THE BARD I HEAR?" At once Phillip roared. His hair was sticking in different directions, grey and curly. His eyes a light blue and wheeling. He spun towards the kids, clutching Jenna's shoulders. "Mon rêve, he wounds me in my own house."

"Sure did. But also, we're not in a house. Don't have one."

"My own office then. And to think I slaved for days on his birthday cake."

"It's definitely Cole's birthday, and no you didn't."

"Wasn't it Cole who spoke?"

"No, Ethan."

"I'd rather you didn't call me by my first name even if you could get it right." With a roll of his eyes Phillip rubbed his hands at the boys. "Men! Finally! I've been outnumbered this long week. Come! We'll talk of sport." Phillip spun on his heal. "Has that oaf showed you where your room is? Horrid expense, I do hope you brought enough silver to pay for it."

Jenna shook her head when Cole hesitated, but Ethan marched right up to keep step with Phillip. "Marigold likes us, she didn't ask for a thing."

"For not a thing?" Phillip looked back at Jenna. "You ought to try that and get our rent lowered." He added to Ethan "She handles our business proceedings."

"Ours too." Cole nodded and earned a HAH from Phillip.

Phillip was stopped a time or two by a cast or crew member. Some treated him with respect as though he carried authority. Others seemed indulgent. Overall, Phillip Juette was enjoyed during his stints at the Olympic Grand. His decades of experience made him an honorary professor if not one of them. And he enjoyed the freer rein that wasn't often given in larger theatres.

He marched with the kids back into the hotel, and then with a surprising speed for one of his age, threw his back against a wall, plastering his arms wide and flat. Automatically Jenna mimicked his stance, Ethan mimicked hers, one arm pushing Cole halfway behind him.

"Is it the feds?" Jenna whispered to Phillip who shook his head with a look of terror.

"Worse." He said, looking back at each of them. "Enid."

One by one three little heads poked around the corner to take in the stern looking cook that was speaking to Marigold. It didn't appear to be a particularly bright conversation.

"It's a slumber party, how much damage can she do today?" Jenna insisted.

"Just to be safe, perhaps you lot should hole up in the room. What have you by way of sustenance?"

"I didn't finish my sandwich at lunch today." Cole offered.

"No, but Jenna did. OW." Ethan raised the foot Jenna had stomped on and then Cole slapped a hand over his mouth.

Phillip rapped his head once on the wall behind him and then sighed.

"If you're through lurking." Came Marigold's voice from the lobby.

At once Phillips expression smoothed as he waltzed around the corner. "Evening ladies."

Enid didn't so much as spare him a glance as she held up a hand, eyes narrowing at the kids. "They haven't grown."

"Gumdrops Enid, I'm only responsible for the one and she's grown half an inch this month." Phillip pointed at Jenna, who shook her head. "A quarter?"

"There hasn't been a lot of sunlight..." She pressed her lips together at Enid's glare. "I drank all my milk at breakfast, you saw."

Grumbling, Enid zeroed in on Cole. "It's about time you lot came down. I spent two hours yesterday afternoon teaching Mr. Kelly and that girl to make a proper huckleberry pie."

Cole looked at Jenna, who was suddenly fascinated with the lobby's tile work and then to Ethan. "You baked the pie."

"Mostly Jenna did, Enid said I was ham-handed so if it turns out crappy she's who you can bla OW." Ethan hunched after the cuff. "It was a joke Ms. E"

"And you earned a clap for it." Phillip rubbed his hands together. "Birthday boy, you know your way to the kitchens, let's check out this pie."

"Before dinner?" Ethan raised his brows as they walked through the main corridor.

"We don't stand much on occasion here." Phillip explained, looping one hand through Marigold's and the other through a gruff but blushing Enid.

Cole's grin was wide as he mimicked the gesture, first with Ethan and then with Jenna, tilting his head until it bumped hers.

"Thank you." He said to her and then turned back to Ethan. "And you too."

"This is going to be the best _birthday_." Ethan bumped the other two for emphasis, swaying them all to the right.

"It's going to be the best _weekend_." Jenna returned as they swung left.

All Cole could think was that it was always going to be the best time, as long as it was the three of them.


	12. Holm House

**Then**

With the rise of Saturday the rain may have paused, but the forest still sang it's tune. Through the morning and afternoon the breezes ruffled the leaves of the trees, drizzling the leftover droplets over the green and brown below. Walking over the forest floor was like walking atop couch cushions. For three ten year olds, it was their sea swept pirate ship.

Ethan crouched behind one of the wide oaks, clutching a stick to his chest as he caught his breath. Slowly he turned back, kneeling to peer around the trunk. He could a corner of Cole's sneaker sliding out from three trees over. He crept towards it, stick at the ready, missing the blur of hair when Jenna cocked her head at the sound of feet. From the tree ahead of Coles, her stick slashed out.

"Merde!" Ethan ducked and rolled, sending mud up the length of his shirt.

"You listened to my teachings, aww Ethan!" Jenna's whole face lit up as she jabbed forward and then swung around a tree at Cole's charge. "Traitor!" She hissed as she shimmied down the trunk. "I was protecting you!"

"Well I'm protecting him! Hmph." Cole fell backwards trying to dodge the pine comb Jenna pitched towards his head.

"Thanks, buddy." Ethan looked up as Jenna began climbing back up. "Where you going there Madame?"

"The crow's nest. Far away from you fools." At the first branch, she levered herself up like a ladder, and reaching for the next she gasped when it cracked.

"Jenna!" Cole stood at once as he saw her swing forward, and Ethan dropping his stick and rushing the tree. At once he felt the wind shift, making him jump. "What was…?" He whispered, looking around and then seeing Jenna right herself.

"Whew." She whistled. "Ok."

"Point made. No crow's nest, yeah?" Ethan called up to her.

"Then for goodness sakes move so I can get down."

"Not a chance." Ethan planted his feet wide, arms half raised.

As Jenna mumbled and grumbled Cole rubbed at the hairs on the back of his neck, looking around for what he was sure was the blur of color he saw in the wind. Seeing nothing but woods, he looked back to his friends as Jenna reached the ground. "Did you guys feel that?"

"Fear of being grounded for aaaall of Tarzans hospital stay? Yeah I felt it." Ethan tugged Jenna's ponytail and shook his head.

"I prefer George of the Jungle." Narrowing her eyes at Cole, Jenna pat his shoulder. "I'm fine baby, just a trip."

"Yeah." Cole agreed but brushed at the wood chips her trip had transferred to her shirt. "Cept all our clothes are messed up."

Ethan groaned and rapped his head on the tree. "Mom's gonna have a cow. Maybe Phillip hasn't dropped our stuff off at the house yet?"

"He has, Ms. Cece put the fear of God in him that he had one job."

Ever cheerful, Jenna shrugged and clapped the dirt from her hands as she looked up at the dipping sun. "Might as well face the music lads, it's about time we get going anyway."

They walked through the woods that had edged the school's playground and turned towards town. Though they'd blend in with any children enjoying the break in weather, there was a sense of unity about them even then that had them standing out. It was seen in the way their steps synced, and their words jumbled. They scurried down the winding sidewalks until the main road became side blocks, and down the second one a tall Victorian waited.

When Forks had been taken from the Quileute's in the 1800's, various Scandinavian families had taken up residence. In the early 1900's, the Holm family originally of Sweden, built their lavish house, which never quite fit in with the scenery. Through the decades the family grew as did the house, and though some went back to Sweden, Holm House waited. When Cecelia Holm first saw the house as a girl, traveling with her parents to their American roots, she knew this was where she would end up. And when Grandpa Valter left it to her on the brink of starting her own family, she jumped at the chance. Even moving in as a Kelly, the town still called it Holm House.

Three narrow floors rose with shutters, arches, even the steps had their own colors of melding blue, cream, and pink to bring together the classic look. Two teakwood rockers graced the small front porch. Around back held an outdoor dining set up, as well as a glider looking over the gardens and a simple swing set and tree house. It was the loveliest home in town, and its mistress one of the loveliest women. And at the moment her temper did nothing to diminish the glow about her.

Cecelia Kelly, with her gold curls in a swing a couple inches past her chin, clasped her hands below her waist and narrowed her bluebell eyes at the three children sheepishly approaching the steps.

Her son repressed a gulp and tried for a smile. "I'd like to start by saying we are not late."

"Nor…" Jenna began, picking up the tone, "did we get into any trouble."

When Cecelia's eyes locked to Cole, he shrugged and waved one of his hands from right to left. She pressed her lips together and moved to the side for them to come in. Automatically in the pass through that separated the front door from the door to the rest of the house, they took off their mud caked boots and turned back to Cecelia who held up a hand to keep them still.

"Before anything else happens you will take yourselves upstairs, collect fresh clothes and clean yourselves up. Ethan and Cole will take turns using Ethan's shower, Jenna Anne you will use mine."

Cole hung his head back while Ethan protested. "Aw we aren't dirty, most of the mud dried up out there. It's just our clothes."

"I will not be sending the three of you to Norah Masen's tomorrow as you are Ethan Thomas, so you will all wash up, understood?"

The boys didn't argue twice while Cecelia led Jenna to the bathroom off her own room. Once Ethan and Cole had taken their turns and switched into their pajamas, they raced back down the stairs, past the formal living and dining rooms, and into the parlor set up more casually. Three bean bag chairs were arraigned in front of the TV, where a stack of the kid's favorite videos waited.

"Holy cow!" Cole knelt down to check out the selection. "This is great!"

"Yeah and Mom made mac and cheese. It's been in the family a billion years. Just you wait."

"This had been the best weekend. Do you think they'll really let us do this more?"

Ethan looked up as Jenna walked in with a towel wrapped around her head. "Took you long enough."

"Ms. Cece has the best soaps." She plopped down on the floor, and like Cole her eyes widened at the tapes. "We're gonna have some movie night."

"After supper." Cecelia said as she entered with a comb. "Come here, Jenna Anne, I'll not have that hair of yours drying into a tangled heap." She settled on an armchair with Jenna at her feet and began the process. "Now, tell me about your time at the Grand and what you three got into today."

They spoke all at once, in an animated jumble. As was a mother's talent, Cecelia listened in all directions and nodded or hummed as she managed to keep Jenna's hand still, and an eye on Ethan's arm waving so close to the coffee table of snacks. She commented when they quieted enough to hear her, her small smiles amused when Jenna got up to reenact part of a duel with Ethan. Even as they pretend swatted, they settled on the carpet, Cecelia had a quiet and serious manner that always managed to keep the three of them soothed. As they caught her up to the afternoon a sharpness came to her light eyes.

"Hmmm. And while you were fighting on your version of the pirate ship revenge, was there any tree climbing?" Meeting three faces as they fell, as she leaned forward she tapped a fingertip against her lip. "Because it seems to me Ms. Norah and I had a very clear rule that you all can galavant around town during the hours we set, but there would be no tree climbing unless an adult is present."

"Sounds familiar." Jenna smiled sheepishly.

"And a reasonable request that needs to be followed." Cecelia said, voice no longer quite as soft. "We trust you all to behave when you're out playing, and that includes being safe. Clear?"

Three yes ma'ams were met with a nod and a clap of her hands. "Well then, I am going to put that supper on warm and the three of you can go settle your things in Ethan's room until I call."

Heading to the stairs, Ethan elbowed Jenna. "Told ya. Woman has like superpowers and knows things."

"She's a good mom. Good mom's notice everything." Jenna corrected, elbowing him back and then Cole. "You two have that, and now I get to steal it every once in a while."

Cole nodded, his mock somber expression making Jenna smile. "We can share."

"We're gonna share everything." Ethan agreed.

It was said with the certainty only a ten year old can offer. For other ten year olds such a statement would prove to be impossible to live by. But these were no ordinary children. And this weekend was the beginning of their journey to discovering just that.


	13. Alder Grove

**Then**

Sunday morning brought a misty sort of rain. The sky teased at a break though while the temperature rose by noon. As church had let out, the puddles through the streets were just settling to a near stillness when a motorcycle came roaming through. It wouldn't have been entirely out of place if it wasn't for the fact that it was pristine and new. Its rider grinned as he hugged the final turn.

From indoors three heads popped up at the bay window of the living room, they too grinning at the roar. Ethan leaped up with a whoop as Jenna and Cole gaped at the gleaming black bike before joining him.

After easing off the motorcycle Dean Kelly looked over as the front door flew open and his son burst through it. Tossing his helmet on the seat, he crossed the lawn and opened his arms for the flying boy.

It was a look that never failed to tug a smile from Cecelia she thought as she leaned on the front door jam. Her two men, one with dark slightly curled hair and the other sunny even in the light rain. Blue and brown eyes beaming at each other, whether it had been days or weeks since the last. In this case it had been six days, and Ethan hadn't thought his father would be back until the next Wednesday.

"You didn't tell me!" He slapped his hands on Dean's shoulders before he was let down.

"I didn't? Gee almost like it was planned that way." Dean looked over to where Cecelia stood. "How else was I supposed to meet our latest kids?"

Cecelia laid a hand on Jenna and then Cole who had hesitated at the threshold. "Remember, we only rent these."

Though Ethan seemed nervous he jerked his head so Jenna and Cole would come over. "This is my Dad." He told them.

Dean's brows rose as Jenna thrust out her hand to shake. "You must be Jenna Anne." He said, and offered his free hand to Cole. "And Michael?"

"Just Cole." He said, and shook Dean's hand timidly.

"Well Just Cole, Happy Birthday. This one is full of stories about you two, I'm glad we've finally met."

"Are you staying for a while Dad? I'm going to Alder Grove til tomorrow."

"And just how did you think you three were getting there?"

Three pairs of eyes widened in delight from Dean to the motorcycle as Cecelia started down the steps. "Now, hold on."

"Easy Ceec, what do you take me for?" Dean shook his head with a sigh and held out a hand. "Toss me the keys would you?"

"To my car?

"Or ours."

Though she cast her eyes to the heavens, Cecelia told the children to get their things and went inside to get Dean the keys to the car she rarely drove. The sedan more than suited her and Ethan's needs, but the GTO bought before his birth had been her and Dean's.

Cole and Jenna raced to their bags, and after a courtesy check for forgotten items, would have raced back if it wasn't for Ethan dragging his feet in getting his.

"What's the deal?" Cole asked.

"You have a weird face on." Jenna added.

"So what? This is weird."

"Going to my house?" Cole fought shuffling his feet.

"No." Ethan walked over and waited for Cole to meet his eyes. "No." He said again firmly and wagged a finger between him and Jenna. "We've both been excited about that." Seeing that neither of them were going to budge Ethan absently kicked his nightstand. "It's just, no one's met my Dad before."

For a beat Cole merely stood with his eyebrows raised while Jenna furrowed hers. "But you have like fourteen friends."

"Not that many. Yeah guys have hung out here before but not when Dad's staying. I don't like them to. I never know if they just want to meet him, not hang out with me."

Cole considered this a minute and then nodded. "That makes sense."

"No it doesn't." Jenna swatted at Cole before pointing at Ethan. "Fine, you have the right idea for some of your friends, and I'm sure you know which. But you need to lighten up. And you really need to lighten up if you think either of us cares about it."

"I know you don't, I'm just saying it's weird."

"Then unweird it." Jenna shrugged but put her hands on Ethan's shoulders. "If Cole can unweird having us at his perfectly nice house that other kids have probably beat him up for having, and I can unweird you two seeing my circus people, then you can unweird that your Dad is a rockstar and you live in a rich people house. Cool it."

Ethan nodded and relented enough to smile. "You're right, you're much weirder." 

"By a lot." Cole agreed and laughed as the three of them dashed to the stairs.

Before they could barrel towards the car, Cecelia's sharp command to freeze was obliged. She walked to them slowly, and met each eye before continuing. "I expect your manners to remain intact despite the celebrating, and you each to go to sleep at the usual school night hour. There will be no arguments is that right?" At the three echoed yes ma'ams she nodded and managed to wrap her arms around all three. "Cole you have the happiest of birthdays and I'm sure I'll see you and Jenna back here soon."

Then with Ethan and Jenna huddled in the door less backseat and Cole enjoying birthday privileges up front, they road to the trailer park where the Masen's lived. Dean answered questions about his band and laughed at his second hearing of how the three met. He told Jenna how he had met Phillip a few times over the years and was never sure if the old man actually remembered the time previous. He had also met Cole's parents when they first moved to Forks.

"Does your dad still work at the pump stop?" Dean asked Cole.

"Yeah but they're both off today. They don't work on my birthday and if it was a school day they would have me stay home." Cole smiled to himself. Even having the weekend with his best friends and seeing how their families lived, he was happy to be going home.

And gradually as the rain stopping, Ethan relaxed, a look of relief washing over the initial nerves.

When they pulled in to Alder Grove, Cole pointed out where to go and smiled when he saw the five foot long banner across the make shift porch. It read _Happy 10__th__ Birthday_, and all at once he realized how much he'd missed his parents. His own father came through the door and from the open window they heard his whistle as Patrick Masen took in the car.

He was tall and lanky. His hair, freed from its usual ball cap, seemed to shine bronze even in the dim clouded light. His eyes were the same green as Cole's.

"That's some birthday present you got there." Patrick said as he leaned through the window and mock knuckle punched Cole's chin, an old habit. "Guess you don't need any of the ones inside."

"In your dreams Masen." Dean said mildly. "Though I might consider trading you for these kids here and add to my collection." He winked at Ethan as they piled out.

"No deal." Patrick wrapped an arm around Cole's shoulders and leaned down to whisper something in his ear that made Cole's smile widen. As he rose to high five Ethan he said "Jenna Anne, Norah wants a word with you in there. I'm told its woman's business and we men folk are to stay out of your hair."

"Then see that you do." Jenna hmphed, but once again stuck her hand out at Dean. "It was really nice to meet you Mister K."

He made her blush by turning the tiny hand for a kiss and saying "Anytime Miz J." He snickered as she stomped on Ethan's foot before rushing into the house. "She's going to keep you boys in line, that's for sure." He reached out a hand to Patrick. "Good to see you again Pat. How's the Mrs? I already know your boy is a winner."

Now Cole blushed as Patrick beamed at him. "He's alright even if he keeps up this growing business. Norah's great, thanks for asking. She's made friends with your Mrs. now that the kids have become glued at the hip." He answered Ethan's eyeroll with a headlock. "This one here has been an interesting influence."

"Not a bad one I hope." Deans deepened voice had Ethan straightening, a useful trick.

"I'm sure they get into the usually boy mischief we're familiar with." At a short scream from inside Patrick merely jerked his head. "And whatever that one comes up with. But no, he's kept Cole from being too serious, and this house loud, it's what Norah and I like to see."

"I'm glad." Dean said genuinely, leaning on his car. "Glad that Ethan has your house to go to and even Jenna's. I can tell Cecelia enjoyed having them. I think this is going to be a good weekend set up to have when everyone can manage it." A guilt so long present he barely felt it registered on Dean's face. "I'm going to try and be around for it more." The wicked grin came back. "So long as my influence isn't a concern."

Patrick laughed and shook his head. "I think putting all our backgrounds together we should just aim for keeping these three alive."

"Deal." Pushing away from the car Dean crouched down to Ethan's level. "I'm going to get going now, but I'll be in town a beat. I'll pick you up Monday after school ok?" He hugged Ethan to him and pointed at Cole. "You have a great birthday."

"Thank you sir." Cole said and shrugged when Patrick laughed and dropped a hand on his head.

"Tell Norah I said hello, I'm sure I'll be catching her next time."

They all admired the GTO as it roared away, Patrick sighing as he placed a hand on each boy's shoulder.

"You won't find anything as nice as that in there, besides your mother." He added as the door opened.

"You all gonna stand out here gawking or get inside?" Norah Masen called out. She'd bundled her long dark curls up on top of her head, and dressed in shorts and a tank top despite the chill the rain had left behind. Her smile was sassy and revealed a dimple high on one cheek.

"I was told to distract the boy lot." Patrick insisted as he steered the boys inside and aimed a half smile her way.

"And you've done enough of that. Give me that ten year old."

Ethan stepped right up and opened his arms wide. Norah swatted the top of his head, before it turned into a caress of his cheek. "You're gonna cause us so much trouble Ethan Kelly."

"That's what they all say." He smirked at Jenna, perched on the yellow kitchen counter.

Norah squeezed Cole's face before placing a smacking kiss on the center of his forehead. "Ten. You're ten now." She told him as she leaned a cheek on his hair.

"I know right. Thanks for my sign."

"My sweet boy." Norah whispered, and then straightening clapped her hands together. "Ok, you all had lunch at Holm House right? I'm sure it was something healthy and protein filled."

"We ought to ruin all that with the big birthday dinner." Patrick stopped at a glare from Norah. "Of course there isn't one." He walked up to the counter and offered Jenna his back. As she hopped right on, he pointed at Cole. "You've waited all weekend for presents, I think that needs to be first up to bat."

Cole jumped after Norah, making Patrick laugh. With one hand keeping Jenna secure, the other grabbed Ethan's collar and dragged him towards the living room. "C'mon moochers."

The room held a three seater couch, a small dresser which doubled as an entertainment center, and a recliner older than Patrick and Norah, who claimed it. Automatically Cole took a seat in the middle of the couch, so Patrick dropped Jenna down next to him and Ethan went for the other side. Patrick grabbed the disposable camera and gestured to the small mound of presents left on the coffee table.

"Have at it."

At his mother's request Cole opened all of his cards from various relatives first, then the package his grandparents had sent. The clothes inside would last him through the summer and fall, making Patrick get up and slap hands with Norah. He was surprised to see one from Cecelia and Dean, then another from Phillip.

Phillip written a quick one act play that had only three characters. The plot description had Cole grinning. "It's about us." He held out the tiny notebook to the others.

Jenna shook her head. "He sells these sometimes when he tours. What a sap. We'll have to act it out for him."

"Ahh so that's how he's going to get you lot to start lessons with him." Norah smirked. "Good luck with that."

"Well I like it." Cole tucked the book to his side and reached for the one from Cecelia and Dean. He felt guilty tearing the paper and ribbon but guilt was soon forgotten as he starred at a pirate captain's hat, and three wooden swords. He pulled out the one with the jewel green hilt with a C carved in.

"Holy smokes!" Jenna exclaimed when she saw the others. She lifted the grey and traced a finger over the J.

"Who whittles?" Patrick asked Ethan.

"Dad. Mom would have painted the hilts. And that design there." He pointed to the heart that was beneath each of their initials.

The three of them held their swords to each other looking at the hearts. "What is it?" Jenna asked.

"It's a Celtic heart." Norah smiled as she looked at it. "Very fitting. It means eternity. I guess you three will just have to stay friends forever."

"Cheesy." Ethan said but his smile had a tint of blush in it. "My dad's Irish so I guess he knows stuff about that."

"So is Mom, Dad a little too." Cole said and looked to Jenna.

"Beats me, I only know the one side. But I'll be glad to learn some Irish if you two learn some French."

"You guys are the real deal now if you have a sigil." Patrick shrugged at Norah as he got up to gather trash. "What? I know things."

"OUR'S NEXT." Jenna burst and then let out a soft cough.

"I guess we would like the one from us opened next." Ethan tugged on Jenna's braid, but just as excitedly pushed the box towards Cole.

He felt silly knowing he was going to keep the brown paper they had doodled all over in lieu of a commercial wrapping paper. He'd keep the card, the very first birthday one he'd received from friends. And the silliness grew as he looked inside the box and knew if he wasn't careful he could cry.

"It's just a Polaroid kind nothing crazy but we found it outside the old Miller place when they had their yard sale." Jenna folded her hands in her lap to keep from jumping up. "We did chores around their house to earn it. Ethan said he'll never do yard work again."

"Ugh." He shook his head. "They kept that place like a haunted house. Least it meant enough to do to get that in one day."

"You going to show us Cole?" Patrick said, already clicking the Kodak he held to get the reactions. He took another when Cole gulped and held his new camera out. "Wow. Guess we don't have to worry about taking all the memory shots Nor."

"Nope, we're retired. You two did a great job." She said to Ethan and Jenna and walked over to get a better look. "This is going to be a nice start to you learning Cole."

"Yeah. It's pretty great." He managed and bumped his left elbow into Jenna, and right into Ethan.

"For Christmas we'll have to find him an album." Ethan told Jenna.

"Or make one." She agreed. "You didn't hear that." She pat Cole on the knee.

"I guess that's the end of that. No topping a gift from the best buds." Patrick told Norah.

"We should probably just send them to bed then."

"BUT YOU HAVE TO SHOW HIM!" Jenna slapped her hands over her mouth at Norah's hiss.

"You know what they got him?" Ethan whined. "Miss Norah! You said you weren't telling us."

"Well I couldn't wait any longer and that one can keep a secret usually. You on the other hand."

"I didn't tell him what you got him for Christmas I just said my mom and I saw you at the comic book store."

"C'mon now, we might as well try and redeem ourselves as gift givers. Masen." She said to Patrick who walked over to Cole and threw him over his shoulder. "That's the way. Ethan, make sure there's no peeking."

Ethan walked behind Patrick with Jenna next to him. When Norah led them back outside Ethan nearly swore but caught himself, and pushed Cole's head back against Patrick before he could look around.

"Now?" Patrick asked, and at Norah's signal dropped Cole down in front of one of the two trees that stood on their square of lawn in the park.

Cole look around, and then took a step back as he saw it.

Four yards up was a wooden platform in the tree with what looked like a tent slung over it for a makeshift roof. Nailed to the bottom of the platform and flapping in the breeze was a pirate flag.

"A treehouse." Cole whispered and grabbed Patrick's arm that had wrapped around his shoulder.

"Not quite, but it's in progress. There was only so much your mother and I could get done in a few days. But it's yours."

"You'd think we'd have noticed that earlier." Ethan marveled at it and ducked a swat from Jenna.

"None of you can go climbing up there unless someone is here though. You can be in there on your own but oof." She laughed as Cole ran into her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She ran her hands over his cap of hair. "I guess it's a hit."

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU." Cole murmured and then bounced in his sneakers. "Can we go up now?"

For the rest of the afternoon they played in the new fort and endured every picture Cole wanted to take. Then chaos reigned inside as they built their own mini pizzas for dinner. Even without the new camera, Cole felt the entire weekend and day imprint on his life forever.

And as the weekend closed with the three of them huddled in his tiny room, he still couldn't wind down. Jenna and Ethan were arguing over the bottom bunk, though he knew Ethan would make Jenna take it. He put in an argument of his own a time or two or laughed at the insults hurled, but continued to make circles of tape to hang up a few of the new pictures he took that day. Ones of the fort, his parents, the three of them with their swords.

"This has been my best birthday." He told them when they resorted to wrestling. He saw Ethan poke his head up and Jenna loosen her grip. "Thank you guys."

Jenna wiggled under Ethan's restraining arm and got up to climb to the middle of the top bunk. "Don't you thank us. You're the one that let us kidnap you."

"Nobody thanks anyone." Ethan huffed as he pulled himself up to the foot of the bed. "But this has been the best weekend. I can't wait to do it again for my birthday. What are you two going to get me?" He grinned as Cole threw a pillow at him, missing, it thumped on the floor.

Jenna leapt down to grab a book and the other two joined her on the bottom bunk as she began to read from where they had left off the previous night. That's where Norah found them two hours later. Ethan with his head pillowed on his arm, Jenna sliding down with the book flopped towards Cole whose leg was dangling off the edge.

She didn't have the heart to move them, but she stayed there a few moments longer. Grateful for what she saw as the year's best gift.

**Now**

Gilly looked up, the room now lit only by lamps and the glowing smile Cole had often through his storytelling. She reached for the Polaroid he'd taken from the album and offered her. The three friends stood in an action pose, brandishing their swords. Cole proudly with his captain hat.

"We each have them still. Hanging up now, but when the necessary argument arises we get them out." He chuckled and took in her face. "That weekend was just the beginning for that tradition. Once we knew how close we were it became a once a month thing. Throughout the rest of the month we bounced around how we pleased. But there was rarely ever a weekend we didn't see each other."

"And that weekend was when you knew?"

"No." His eyes softened, his lips twitched to the right. "We knew we were good friends sure, but what we are today we didn't know that until eighth grade. There was a lockdown at the school. The first one in years. We learned a lot about us that day."

Gilly put down the picture, and picked her notebook back up.


	14. Knowing

**Then**

A February wind rocked the windows at Forks Junior High, and as if it knew something wasn't quite right about the day. The mood indoors was dismal as any Monday afternoon may be. It was the period before lunch hour and the students were getting restless. One however, with a darker sort of anticipation.

Over the weekend Jason Zillinger's girlfriend had broken up with him. Even as she denied it up and down, he had a feeling his friend Trent was the reason. So he yelled and yelled, until she ran off, screaming back at him that he was a jerk. It didn't occur to him that he could be overreacting, especially seeing as he'd been checking out her friends a time or two. All he knew was he had to knock Trent down a peg.

Jason made sure throughout Monday morning that his other friends Mark, Todd, and Ricky knew what was up. He had Todd get a note to Trent to meet him and the others. Even though Trent was the bigger of the two, Jason was too ticked to be worried. And brought his ace in the hole as he called it. He didn't just want to rough Trent up, he wanted him pissing himself scared. That was Jason's first mistake. His second was showing his friends who ditched class with him, just what he had stolen from his Dads closet. The ones headed down the same path as he didn't look with fear, but a sense of awe. But when Ricky looked, he panicked. Soon Jason led them towards the back of the school. He didn't even see Ricky backtrack towards the main office.

Ethan had seen them pass as he was in the cafeteria study hall, not even pretending to do his work. He perked up enough energy to make a face resembling the one made at him. Passing the cafeteria, Jenna was wandering from her theatre class to return the paints they'd borrowed from the art room for the plays set design. At the far end of the school, Cole was in home-ec daydreaming out the window.

Minutes later just before the chaos of the ringing bell was underway, most students hadn't noticed when their respective teachers answered the wall phones. None of them noticed a tension rising.

Before everyone could scatter to lunch, every teacher in the school began locking the doors and announcing to their classes that the school was in a lock down situation, and they were to behave as they had in every drill held since 9/11 two years prior. Despite the assurance that everything was under control and they were safe, something got through to three in the school. And at that moment, Ethan, Jenna, and Cole felt the same thing.

A fear for the other two.

Ethan didn't think twice, he just slipped into the kitchens as the cook came out before Mr. Davis thought to lock that door as well. He eased out to the hallway, he saw his gym teacher making the rounds checking the doors, and snuck around the corner before he could get caught. If they were locking all the doors he wasn't going to be able to get into the auditorium. But he sure as hell wasn't going back without them.

Hearing the news from the still open main office, Jenna hesitated for a breath, spinning a plan. Once she had it, she dropped the box of paints and kicked them under a water fountain as she darted back.

While Ms. McHan ran through a role call Cole thought over his options. Staying put wasn't one of them, but he didn't see how he was going to get out either. And even if he got out, if they were locking all the doors, he'd have to find a way to get in to the others. As quickly as he thought it, the answer came. Making sure no eyes were on him, he walked backwards to the row of windows he'd been staring out of. He opened one only wide enough for him to fit through, and eased his way out.

**Now**

"Ho ho hold it." Gilly waved her hands around as if wiping the images clear. "Absolutely not."

"What?"

"You just climbed out the window?"

"I've climbed many." Cole smirked at the pencil pointed at him. "It's a small town Gilly. The school is one floor."

"That's not my qualm. My qualm is no one noticed you?"

"They rarely did those days."

"The window was unlocked?"

"I thought you said you grew up in a small town too?"

"Ours were opened with a crank."

"Oh well those are real tough to break in and out of. Ethan snuck into a girlfriend's house once with that type. Screwed his hand up something terrible."

Leaning back, Gilly sighed. "Ok so you managed to get out from window. How did you find another to get back in the school?"

"How do you know I went back in and didn't run for it?" Cole countered. At Gilly's head tilt he smiled. "I knew which classrooms were empty, we all did. Part from the small school factor, but also if either of us was having a rough day it was good to know where the quiet spaces where. Jenna used to say it was the benefit of being least seen. For Ethan, ditching class or sneaking around was a process. For she and I it was a bit simpler. The lockdown changed that of course, they buckled down quite a bit." Cole flashed a grin. "Doesn't mean we didn't find our ways though."

"That doesn't surprise me."

Cole considered Gilly a moment. "Did you skip class often?"

"Not until my senior year of high school." Gilly re-twisted her hair to the top of her head. "And then if I did in college it was more of a rob Peter to save Paul. Sometimes you need to work on a paper more than sit in poly sci."

"I don't miss that. I was on scholarship so that's when the ditching stopped. Felt like it would've been wrong. You went to NYU right?"

"A few years behind you."

"Still."

"Yes. Still." Though her eyes turned wary, for that moment Gilly didn't feel like acting as though she didn't know what he meant. Why didn't they notice one another then? "So you looked for an unlocked window in one of the empty classrooms. Where did you end up?"

Cole nodded slightly. He wondered if she'd let him photograph her one day. All those changing expressions. Nerves to pondering to sly smiles. He could do a study on the many faces of Gilly. Keeping it light, he answered.

"Luckily there was one close to my class, which was good for the plan. I was the furthest away from the others and Jenna was the next closest so it would have been her coming to get me out. Ethan would make his way to Jenna's class, which she and I would double back to. An auditorium isn't easy to lock down, but there are better hiding places and Jenna likely had ways out besides."

"The three of you spent time coming up with game plans incase another student went off?"

"No."

Gilly hadn't written anything in a few minutes but found herself still scratching her pencil across the paper. Anything to keep her hands busy. "If you're trying to tell me you can read each other's minds..."

"No." Cole laughed. "Well. Not technically. After all these years it doesn't take much. But no, then it was more that we just knew. Somewhere along the line we synced up with each other and that was the first instance we were tested on it."

**Then**

Ethan ducked behind a pillar before he nearly ran into two teachers talking. He heard the mention of Jason and frowned as he inched just a little closer.

"That's what Ricky Vizio said, Jason brought in his father's gun. Thinks he's just going to use it to scare that friend of his but they aren't in the hide out Ricky thought they would be at."

"Shouldn't we be evacuating?"

"Not when we don't know where these kids are, they might be outside by now. I can't imagine that Zillinger boy taking this far but the principal wants this by the book."

As their voices moved away, Ethan shakily leaned back against the pillar. Jason was a punk but would he really hurt anyone like that? Ethan felt uneasy thinking how Jason had never lightened up towards Cole. Hell, not towards any of them since that day in fifth grade. Maybe he was this stupid.

Ethan scratched his initial plan of finding a way for them to get into the auditorium, and instead he started making his way towards the back of the school.

In that direction, Jenna's heart started speeding when she saw Cole's classroom window was covered. Part of the lockdown she told herself, but still she felt the worry heighten. She checked the door numbers and went to one two doors down. She didn't know where Jason and his ilk usually hung out so she wasn't sure if they would still be in the school or somewhere outside of it. But she was running out of time to get to Cole. Soon it wouldn't just be staff looking for Jason, it would be cops.

As she checked to be sure it was empty, she heard a window opening and let a sigh of relief escape. Still, she stayed at the door, ready to close it if need be, as Cole climbed through.

"What's happening out there?" He whispered, closing the window as quietly as he could.

"Jason Zillinger. One of his minions ratted him out that he's going to fight Trent Weeks, but Jason brought a gun to school." She held up a hand before Cole could rush forward. "We can't go back out there. They don't know where he is yet. That's all I know."

"Where's Ethan?"

"He'd have heard by now, he's coming." She allowed herself another look into the empty hall and then felt a shudder as she saw him round the last corner.

"Close the damn door." Ethan shoved her in and flicked the lock.

"You ok?" Cole clutched at Ethan's shoulder.

"Promise. All good now. How did you get out?"

"Window."

"We're a terrific influence on this one." Ethan said to Jenna who rolled her eyes.

"Qu'est-ce que tu penses?" She said to both of them with a jerk of her head towards the door.

"What I think is that we should make like Cole out that window. But for all we know Jason likes to hang out by the school sign, so stay here it is." And he plopped down to the floor.

"How much trouble do you think we're in?" Cole said as he sat next to Ethan.

Jenna let her head fall back before going to the classroom phone and dialing the main office. "Hi Mrs. Burl, this is Jenna Juette. No. I was in the halls, I snuck into an empty classroom. I'm here with Ethan Kelly and Cole Masen. Yes they did too. Room 309. Alright. It is. We won't." Jenna hissed as the line went dead.

"I'd say a fair amount." Ethan answered Cole. "Not nearly as much as Jason. What's he thinking?"

"He's not, which is the usual for Zillinger." Jenna sat in front of them. "The cops are here, Mrs. Burl said one will come to sit with us or take us to the office."

"Better in trouble than wondering. I knew you two'd think the same and hightail it to the auditorium. Jenna probably built tunnels through that place. So that's where I was headed but then I heard."

"No tunnels but that's the better spot to be. I knew you wouldn't stay in the cafeteria, too open. Trust you to get at least closer to us and give me enough time to find a way to get him out." She narrowed her eyes in a glare. "About gave me a stroke when I couldn't see into the class to be sure he was in there."

Cole managed a small smile. "Three for three. I knew you would come but maybe now you'll remember so will I."

Jenna took each boys hand. "Well. That will come in handy."

**Now**

"We were still sitting there like that when the officer came in and got us." Cole met Gilly's eyes. "Most importantly, no one was hurt. Jason and Trent fought, but one of his other buddies had the sense to swipe away Jason's backpack so they ended up going at it the old fashioned way. Jason was suspended for the rest of the year and had to go to all sorts of counseling. He was back by the time we started high school."

"How long were you all grounded for?"

"Oh we weren't. There were many _many_ lectures. Yelling too, once Dean got wind of it and rolled to town. Then Phillip took off with Jenna for a while. Did some sort of street performing in New York." Cole shook his head. "But mostly I don't think they were surprised. Not that we were either but it was something that taught us about ourselves even more than about each other.

"I can't imagine that feeling. To count on someone that much at that age and be counted on. Not to mention what that probably made school like."

Cole lifted a finger to swipe through the air at her point. "That was a turning point. Sure kids made cracks before then. But a majority of that was the question of why social star Ethan slummed it with Jenna and I. Now it was the teachers looking at us. And our classmates thought we were crazy. It's an age where everything changes no matter who you are, we were no different."

"But you were." Gilly looked down at her notepad and closed it. "I think that's probably a good place to stop for now. I want to reread my notes and see what direction I want to go with all this."

"Ok. Tell me something before you go. Anything you want."

"About?"

"You." Cole kept his tone light but felt the urgency within him. "Gilly you think this isn't about you, just the story but as it turns out I can't tell you these things and watch you, and not know something about you in return."

Gilly huffed out a breath of annoyance. It wasn't in her to argue with sense. She hitched up her hip to dig her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through to her oldies but goodies picture album. Handing him the phone she said, "That's me when I was around the age you were when you met them. I didn't have siblings at the time, so I made up my own games. One was newsroom, that's what I'm doing there."

She watched him as he grinned at the picture of her nine year old self. Her sunny hair was longer but just as straight, with skinny braids mixed in. She was spreading a newspaper out on a dining room table. Various stuffed animals took up the other chairs.

"You knew what you wanted to do then?"

"God no. Well." She moved her head from side to side. "I loved the movie Little Women." She held up a hand. "Yes I know it's a book first but I was a child. I thought the movie where the sisters had their own newspaper was the coolest thing. So I made my own. I just didn't have the sisters."

"You said you didn't have siblings at the time, did your parent's have more kids later?"

"Something like that. My father got remarried a few of years later. I was twelve, my stepbrother fourteen. There were some bumps but we were both only children, so it was nice to have each other. My dad and stepmom divorced when I was in college, but I'm keeping them." Her smile was smug instead of grim.

"And your mom?"

"Took off. I don't remember her." She shrugged. "Dad's working on wife number three, but we aren't particularly close. Like I said no one's story is all happy."

"No but I hope you're happier without them in your story."

Gilly nodded and took her phone back as she gathered her things. "You know something about me then."

"I'm greedy and will probably want to know more before this is done, but for now I'm grateful." He took a glance around to see if she forgot anything, and then began walking her to the door. "I can take you to the subway, its dark." He shouldered her bag before Gilly could.

"Ethan teach you that?" She smirked.

"Something has to rub off in eighteen years."

They walked along quietly, down the street but she didn't feel uneasy. It was nice to be with someone and not feel that expectation to keep a conversation going. Now and again she saw him consider something, his steps slowing and hers automatically matching. Then he'd nod to himself, as if recording a memo for future pictures.

Once they reached the train Gilly took her bag back. "When is a good time for you?"

"I'll be at PIN tomorrow, we can figure it out then."

"Ok. You should call them."

"Who?"

Gilly tapped the pocket of his jacket where she knew he slipped his phone. "Them. You'll feel weird if you talk about the three of you that much and go home to them not being there. So call one of them or both."

His smile was slow and crooked as his eyes moved across her face. "Alright Miz Lind."

"Goodnight then." She said and with a blush turned hastily to the steps and down.

Cole stood there watching even after she'd gone from view. With a shake of his head he got out his phone and punched the 2 key. At the second ring it clicked.

"I mean I knew it." Jenna answered.

"You know nothing."

"I do so. Ethan did so. But we weren't about to get you all bajiggity over it."

"Whose bajiggity? I wasn't. I merely expressed annoyance at you two jumping to conclusions over me conversing with a female. Did the three of us not get that enough in school?"

"Baby you can wordsmith me all you wish doesn't change a thing."

"I may like her." He could practically hear Jenna smile but knew it wasn't an I told you so smile. "I may, and that probably messes with this. But something is there."

"Good. You've never had something real be there. Doesn't matter what it messes up. Life is messy."

"You're not wrong." Cole sighed. "How long until you tell Ethan?"

"How long until you hang up the phone?"

Laughing Cole looked at the phone. "I'm patching him in." And walked with his friend's voices and laughs there in New York with him.


	15. Authors Note The Sequel

Holy hell. It took me 28 days to kill that chapter. I hate it. I mean it came together better than I was anticipating and all but Jesus Christ. How did I used to bang out chapters once a week let alone that time period I did it once a day?! Bananas. This story is a toughie cuz as in some of my others, aspects of the story have been floating around in my noggin for a long while. That makes the chapters getting to those scenes a bit of a struggle. Add in that I'm nearly seven years rusty, whew. Glad that one is done. Not looking forward to the next time a block hits. But if anyone is reading this suppose it's worth it. You out there? You like this nonsense? Rad.

-JB


	16. Convincing

**Then**

Ethan took the steps two at a time as he rushed in from recess. He was more than a little grubby from the kickball game, but he figured if he was quiet the librarian wouldn't notice that, or him. He knew once he didn't see Cole outside that his friend would be holed up in there, as he did whenever Jenna was away.

They were starting month three of sixth grade and she'd already missed a chunk of it, but today she was due to return.

He walked down the rows of books, peaking through each aisle until he found him, sitting on the floor in one of the corners. Cole looked up and shook his head.

"You can't play the game without at least two dramatic base slides can you?"

"No fun otherwise." Ethan slid down next to him. "Why are you wasting a dry day in here?"

Cole rolled his eyes but said nothing as he finished his spot in the book and marked it. "Hopefully it'll still be dry for the walk to the hotel later. "

"Yeah, mom will pick us up for dinner. I think she's getting used to Phillip taking Jenna but wants to keep checking on her or whatever." Ethan shrugged. At first he thought Jenna was lucky for all the traveling but now that he'd known her for a year he saw it didn't seem to suit her.

"Maybe next time we'll be able to talk her into asking to stay with one of us."

"Hah!" Ethan slapped a hand over his mouth a second late as Cole groaned.

They heard the thump of heals even over the thickly carpeted floor as Mrs. Stanhope zeroed in on them with a glare.

"Ethan Kelly, Michael Masen, what are you doing in here during a recess period?"

Cole shakily held up a book while Ethan tried his hand at charming. "It's just that I kicked a new home run record in kickball Mrs. Stanhope. That type of news is best delivered in person."

"You're filthy, and the bell will ring any minute to return to class. Get." She shooed them with her arms, under which ducked an eleven year old girl.

"Pardon." Jenna said as she skipped down the aisle towards the boys.

Cole groaned again as the seething librarian marched back to her desk. "Now she won't let me sneak in here."

"Serves you right, dry day like this."

Ethan pointed at Cole before swatting the back of Jenna's head. "She's right but insane. What were your ears ringing?"

"Why, were you two talking smack?" She picked up Cole's backpack. "I didn't feel like watching the wrath Papa will have thrown at him for staying an extra week when he wasn't even cast."

"Marigold is pissed?" Ethan held the door for them as they made their way, in no particular hurry, to the classrooms.

Jenna shrugged. "Everyone has their opinions. So what have I missed?"

"Anything that's going on we've told you on the phone." Cole made a grab for his backpack which was dodged.

"Rotten liars. What do you call this then?" With a flourish she wiped a bright blue paper from her back pocket.

As both boys got a look at it, one grinned while the other shook his head madly.

"No no no no no." Cole said with no panic. Certain it would never happen.

"Awesome." Was Ethan's thought. "I thought you're more a behind the stage type, since when does a talent show appeal?"

"Since now. I think it would be fun with all of us. C'mon Cole, Ethan and I are children of performers, we'll teach you the ways."

"No reason to. Not happening."

"I already have an idea for it." Jenna said, not listening.

"So you and Ethan do it. I'll scream my head off in the audience. So much clapping. Sounds great. Is that my science class?" Cole darted in to a room.

"I'll work on that. Good to have you back." Ethan shook Jenna's hand with a grin and followed Cole.

Convincing Cole took the full week that had remaining before the sign up cut off. By the end of it he still had nerves, but excitement too. At each practice it got a little easier to be around the other classmates who participated. They seemed a bit more accepting. His being younger or an egg head didn't come into conversation. It made coming out of his shell for the show far more fun.

Their parents were bursting by the December evening they all gathered in the school auditorium. Especially since none knew what the three of them had prepared. Patrick and Norah were still in a state of disbelief that Cole was involved. They let Phillip steer them as close to the front as they could manage. Phillip was silent for once beaming at the empty stage. Dean joined them not far from curtain up, video camera at the ready. By the time Cece had finished making the rounds with the other members of the PTA, it was time.

The five adults clapped at other acts but when their three came on, the cheers could be heard from outside. Cece grabbed Norah's hand on one side and Phillips with the other as Ethan Jenna and Cole stood in a wide triangle. When Jutebox Hero by Foreigner came on Dean wolf whistled as Ethan began lip syncing, with Jenna and Cole air guitar/drumming behind him. After each chorus they rotated positions, each kid getting a shot to perform. Jenna did a dramatic fall to her knees with the mic stand at her part, while Cole, shyness forgotten, finished out the song with his fist in the air.

While the rest of the audience clearly enjoyed, they were a bit more reserved than the five up front that shot up in their chairs screaming with their applause. Norah brushed at tears when Ethan took one of Cole's and one of Jenna's hands to complete their bow and make a run for it. Back stage, those three fell to the floor and laughed their heads off while the next act went on.

**Now**

After clicking the save button Gilly leaned away from her computer, and reached back to cup her neck. The images of their first talent show still swirled in her mind as she drank her water deep. A glance at the time had her wincing. She'd been converting her notes for three hours. There was no denying the result was more of a story than in article form. She'd never been a creative writer, but more analytical and fact driven. The pages and pages before her had a whimsy Gilly didn't know she possessed.

Over the last two weeks she'd gathered several such stories from Cole. When she had asked to know more about what the three had in common and how they shared their time, the stories that followed were what she'd termed "the firsts." The first holidays, the first times they played pirates or wizards, and now the first show that set many more in motion over the years. The most recent meet up he'd started on their separate togetherness. Jenna and Ethan took dance lessons growing up, initiated by their parents. That interest had carried to this day. Ethan and Cole's childhood ritual of card games morphed into casino trips once they reached eighteen. Then there was how Jenna and Cole would go to every one of Ethan's various sports games, but when he would take two weeks at a summer camp they would partake in "nerdier" adventures, leading up to their yearly renaissance fair pilgrimage. Although Ethan's connections got them into a few Comic Cons, which he too enjoyed. Ultimately they came together as three in most things.

She'd filled two notebooks already, and in them she was beginning to learn how three very different children could meld their lives in such a way that formed this strong unit as adults. Just now Gilly felt on the edge. Both with the story and with Cole.

It was a lovely thing to be learning about such a vital point in someone's identity, and watch it transform them. In the weeks since they started, Cole seemed to grow lighter as he shared glimpses of their childhood. Though none of it seemed like secrets to Gilly, she wondered if that's how he'd been treating them. He'd described it as a hoarding. He said he hoarded his memories with his best friends, not wanting to share them with just anyone. And then he looked at her in that way. Just for a moment before that half smile would return and he'd be easy with her again. But that moment was always enough to get her back up.

She huffed out a breath as she retwisted her bun. It wasn't because she hadn't felt the same. If she pursued her curiosity in that area it wouldn't be appropriate to continue the story. How would she separate getting to know someone she was seeing and someone she was writing about? How would he? Gilly kicked the bottom of her desk absently. She couldn't recall a time obsessing this much about anything since high school. She was an adult now.

As she had the thought Gilly looked at her phone considering. She was an adult now, she thought again. Adults aired things out, so maybe that was what she needed to do. Just put the personal interest on the table so they could move past it, and forward professionally. Cole was reasonable and dedicated to his work, she had no doubt he'd agree with her that muddling the lines wasn't the road they should go down. And if not, that she could convince him. On a roll of her shoulders she reached for her phone, only to nearly jerk her hand back as it ringed. One look at the readout had her rolling more than her shoulders as she answered, hearing New York.

"It's late." Cole said before she could speak.

"Then why are you out?"

"And she asked if I read minds. I needed to noise to distract me and frankly it didn't work."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's my cross to bear but hardly excuses me calling you when it's late."

"It is, but I'm still on night job time."

"Oh good. Well the thing is Gilly, my brain has been running a hamster wheel up there half the night so I figured it was time to bother you."

She was grateful he couldn't see her face as she cast it to heaven. "Do tell."

"First of all I need you to know that like you I started this thinking that my friends and I had a lot to share that just might benefit someone else who has gone through similar. It's a good story to tell."

"Yes it is."

"That's not all that's going on here anymore."

Gilly gave a passing thought to what it would cost her, but answered. "No it isn't."

For a beat neither of them said anything, yet Gilly felt all that she needed to in the near silent breath he let out.

Then she heard a car horn both at her ear and from the window. As she jumped to her feet he cursed.

"I may or may not be outside your building."

"Why didn't you just buzz up?"

"Because it would be rude and forward."

"And calling at 11:27 isn't?"

"It is but I wasn't about to pressure you. Our city just doesn't make for keeping ones presence incognizant."

Shaking her head at both of them Gilly fumbled for her shoes. "I'm coming down."

"Well, if you insist."

She could hear the smile as she disconnected and grabbing her keys, dashed out.

Outside he was leaning against the railing, face content as he watched the still bustling streets. Though the door click couldn't be heard over it, he looked over to Gilly, his smile full and bright. With it she felt the last of her objections float off, and was convinced as his hand reached for hers. While she took it gingerly, she felt more than she ever had.

"I thought we would walk just a few minutes."

Gilly nodded as she looked up at the clear night sky. "It's not cold for once. You haven't been stalking out here long though have you?"

"No, just got here. I did most of my over analyzing at home." One of his fingers traced over her knuckles. "Jenna Ethan and I are all single you know."

"I wondered. You never mentioned if they were with anyone. It was one of my questions of course. How dating has worked out."

"Of course. It's one of the few spells we've had where the three of us have been single the same time. We've never had one where we all had someone at the same time so I can't tell you how that would work out, but we have an idea." He turned them down another block. "Anyways, we're all single now, but Ethan and Jenna have both had people in their life before that they felt they could share all things with."

"The three of you being the main one?"

Cole nodded. "It's a difference we've had. I've never been in love. And now I know I don't have to be in love to share that part of myself. They did."

"There's nothing wrong with that. If you ask me it makes them more reasonable." Gilly grinned.

"That's the funny part. I'm the reasonable one, but when it comes to this and you, I'm anything but." He shrugged. "My interest in you isn't just because of the story and how you clicked, it's not even what started it."

Surprised, Gilly stopped so she could look at Cole. "It wasn't?"

"Was it for you?"

"No." She admitted.

"For me it's been watching you be miserable at PIN." He grinned at her grimace. "I'm not saying I enjoy seeing you unhappy. But that you keep trying. And you work like crazy to keep what you want going. That place isn't changing you. I haven't met someone that shares that passion for what they do. Now, pair that with the feeling I get from seeing you not only listen but understand…." He shook his head and whistled.

"I suppose for me it was realizing how much I say around you." She flicked the hand she held with her spare one when he hmphed at her. "I know you don't think I do but it's true. I don't seem to make friends easily as an adult, but I have with you. I'm nervous to change that. But I think it did the first time I came to your apartment. Maybe there's no sense in convincing myself it hasn't."

Now Cole stopped and turned her to face him. "If you want to keep things to this project we will. I didn't come here to force you into anything."

"I know Cole. If you hadn't, I was going to."

His face may have stayed neutral but those green eyes didn't. "You were?"

"I was reaching for the phone when you called. I told myself we were going to be adults about it, air it out and move on. But I think I knew, that wasn't how it would work."

As he nodded Cole turned and they started walking back towards Gilly's place. "I'm not keeping you out past midnight before we've had our first date." But he kept her hand in his, still running a finger over her knuckles.

"Here's my thought." She started.

"Tell me."

"I want to write this story and I will. But it's not going anywhere. Even if this doesn't, I'll still write it."

"You will." His voice was reassuring.

"But if this goes somewhere, it's not how I want to learn everything about them or you. So we'll couch it for now while we date like regular people. If I ask about them it's because I want to get to know you and them, not for the story just now."

"I'm sure that big brain of yours will file it away just the same. But agreed. We put the work stuff aside for now."

Gilly shook their joined hands and as Cole's laugh carried through the April night, she never felt more sure of where she was going.


	17. Twitterpated

**Ethan**

Waking up to a jostling train wasn't ideal, but then again he wasn't supposed to be sleeping in the first place. Ethan opened his eyes warily, and then relieved to see he didn't miss his stop. Though it wouldn't be all together the worst. His time was his own now. With being between jobs for a nice spell, he planned to jump around from Cole's place in the city, and Washington. Maybe even take a breather someplace on his own. He had to admit that wasn't his skill though.

Since it wasn't, he was looking forward to getting to Cole's. His father had also mentioned he'd be in New York the same time, and Ethan wanted nothing more than the company of his two favorite guys. Especially given his recent foray into the dating scene. He and Gabby had gone out a handful of times in LA when he wasn't on location, and when he'd let her know he was going out of town to see his family, she had expected to come with. For a few moment's he had wondered where he had gone jerk and led her on that far, but the tantrum that followed cleared that up real quick. Thinking of Gabby and the way too dramatic end, Ethan took out his phone with a grin and called up his most recent text to Jenna.

_(E) I'm not sure when I'll be PNW side. After that performance I need a breather from your gender. _

_(J) What makes you think I want any part of yours? Stay over on that side of the country. _

Shaking his head, he pocketed his phone again, rubbing a hand over his chin where the bottle Gabby had tossed at him had connected. The few days of growth he had going would probably disguise a mark but Christ was it irritating. He didn't look for the one, but he thought he got the hang of looking for someone to spend time with that was on the same page.

As the train announced his stop he forgot his trouble for a few moments, eager to get to Cole's.

Ethan didn't even notice the rain as he walked the rest of the way to the building. One of the few advantages of where he grew up. He was pleased to note that it was warmer than he was expecting for early April. It seemed the east coast was getting a break with early spring. His mood felt lighter by the time he got out his key and started his treck up the stairs to the apartment.

Before he could reach for the door it was opened by Keith, Cole's roommate.

"Brad!" Keith exclaimed.

Ethan grinned at the old nickname as he walked in. On his first meeting with Keith the guy had decided Ethan looked exactly like Brad Pitt, and would one day stunt for him. A day Keith anxiously waited for.

"How's it going Keith?"

"Amazing. I was just headed to meet Mark for lunch before his shift, but now…."

"Don't piss off the boyfriend on my account, I'll be here a while."

"I need to hear all the celeb details." Keith insisted as he patted his pockets for keys and wallet.

"You will." Ethan tossed his duffle on the couch and plopped down in the chair.

"Alright then. Well nothing whatsoever is in the fridge, but Leo should be home any minute. He's been trying to catch some shot up a roof not far from here. He'll be there if he's not off seeing that girl. You might remind him it's his turn to shop. There's a good boy. I'm off!" And with that Keith flew out.

Ethan chuckled as he took out his phone and texted Cole.

_(E) Leo, Keith has informed me it is your turn to do the grocery so I guess that's what we're doing once you're free if we want to eat this week. You coulda gone earlier you inhospitable shit. –Brad_

_(C) Or. OR. You could go since your lard ass isn't working r/n. _

_(E) When you're right you're right. I'll bet the lovely Gilly (Or has she gotten her Keith moniker yet?) would accompany me. We can bond over the frozen food section._

_(C)…Reese. _

_(E) Ahhh Ms. Witherspoon. Well now I know who to look for. _

_(C) I'm on my way._

Ethan set down his phone and dusted his hands off in a job well done. Keith mentioning Gilly reminded him of his other reason for visiting. Cole wasn't going to be able to hide her away for long. It was the first time he'd ever sounded this way over someone, and Ethan felt honor bound to tease as well as learn as much as he could about that development.

Deciding to be productive while he waited, he took his bag to the guest room which doubled as his storage in lieu of an apartment of his own. He tossed the things he thought he'd need around the room and in the john, then tucked the duffle in a corner. The place looked the same as it had during his last visit in January, but as he walked back towards the living room he caught a glimpse of Cole's room and stopped.

He'd known it was there. Hanging on the small corner of wall next to the bed. It had gone wherever Cole lived since they were seventeen and it was made. He walked a step into the room to look at the painting he often avoided.

The canvas showed little sign of age or all the moving through the past eleven years. The background was a melding of different colors, in a stark geometric style. He knew Jenna often mimicked that blending technique when she herself painted, though not with as harsh of lines. But over the colors Jenna would often put a quote of some kind. This held images. To anyone else it would look like a painting the MoMa would pass off as abstract. To the three of them and those who knew, it was the beginning.

In a triangle formation was a juice box in one corner, a swing in the other midflight, and on the point a tree with a book sitting under it. Ethan lifted a finger to trace the juice box, sighing as he looked at the swing and tree. As his finger lowered to the signature on the bottom, his throat tightened. He could still remember that hesitant smile as she turned over the canvas to show him. How he teased that he wished he had a better symbol than a juice box. She knew he was joking, just like she knew what it meant to him that she would make it. And what it meant to Cole to open it that birthday. He hoped wherever she was she knew Cole kept this always.

The sound of the door buzzer snapped him out of the memories trying to push in. Running a hand over his face he backed out of the room to answer. Cole's voice came through the intercom.

"I'm not saying I forgot my key…"

Ethan rolled his eyes as he slapped the open button.

As Cole bustled in Ethan felt the last of the dark mood drift away and reached out to take one of the camera bags himself.

"Jeez son, how many of these do you need to shoot one roof?"

"I'm not shooting the roof, I'm shooting a garden on a roof a few buildings down from the building next door. I'm trying to get the right angle from the ledge and can't get the light right though without manipulating it, hence the different lenses not cameras." He carefully plopped the bag down as his head fell back.

"You'll get whatever shot is in your brain, you always do nerd."

Cole smiled at him and tapped a fist on Ethan's jaw before heading to the kitchen. "That stubble look is sexy my friend, but it's not hiding that bop you got there."

"We don't talk about that." Ethan leaned on the doorway. "Keith said there's nothing in here."

"He's not wrong." Cole closed the fridge and looked back. "Shit, are you all settled here, how was your trip? Man I'm out of it."

"Twitterpated."

"Might be. But you're good?"

"So good."

"Then what's wrong with your face?"

"I told you. We don't talk about that."

"Be a smart ass and I won't buy you waffles." Cole shrugged.

Ethan glared and thought it was one of the times he missed when Cole was more shy and quiet. Now he took no shit where his friends were concerned. "The shiner incident paired with your twitterpatedment had me in my memories, that's all. No. See." Ethan walked over and lightly smacked the side of Cole's face. "That's why it should be left alone, don't go getting a face on about it, I'm fine. Knock it off."

"Your face wasn't fine, my face isn't fine. What do you expect?"

"When you get like that it's why Keith calls you Leo." Ethan sighed. "Cole. I'm going to get in my memories from time to time. Jenna is too. Nothing is wrong with that and it doesn't mean any of us stop moving on. We've made that crystal clear with you."

"I know."

"When I was twitterpated did you ever get upset with me?"

"No."

"That's right. Knock it off. I'm pumped about this. I can have a moment and still be pumped." Needing that to be it he grinned. "Besides. She could be the fourth."

"For the love of God." Cole turned to rap his head against the fridge in tune to a knock on the door.

"There she is now!" Ethan yanked open the door and then rushed to slam it, only to have it kicked back. "Wrong she. Get back witch!"

"If one of you doesn't grab one of these bags so help me I will make the tussle of 02 look like a freaking toddler tantrum." Jenna seethed, two groceries in one hand and a wheeled suitcase in the other.

Cole took two and kissed her cheek. "Not like I'm not glad to see you but how the hell why the hell?"

"I thought I was going to be earlier but I ran into Keith on my walk up and he said you didn't have groceries. In a weak moment I retreated. There are more in this." She dropped her backpack on the counter with a sharp thud. "God." Jenna rotated her neck. "I haven't done that since college."

"I don't think he meant the food Jenna Anne." Still, Ethan rubbed at her shoulders before she could roll them.

"Don't get all huffy cuz I'm encroaching on man time." But she tilted her head so her cheek tapped his hand. "I'll only be here til Saturday night. By request of the Gilly Flower."

"What now?" Cole froze in unpacking the food.

Jenna nudged Ethan aside and boosted herself up on the free counter to give them some space in the narrow room. "She emailed me and said since Ethan would be here for a while she imagined she would end up meeting him and didn't think that was fair and that if I wanted to come I could bunk with her."

Ethan patted a beat on his heart as Cole shook his head and muttered. "It's starting. They all told us to set boundaries and did we listen?"

"Oh hush, I'm staying right here and letting you two squabble over whose stuck on the couch."

"Me." Ethan interrupted. "Since when are you Ms. Spontaneity?"

"Since my boss has been hounding me to use more vacation time anyways aaaaand you were going to meet her first." She waved it away. "Can't have that." Jenna smiled at Cole. "Could you possibly continue unpacking that, there's ground chuck in there."

Still stupefied Cole shook his head. "How did you afford it? Did you finally use whatever Cece stashed in all our places?"

Jenna pfed that away. "Still haven't found mine, the sneak. No, I borrowed from the Papa fund." Again she waved a hand when Ethan slowly smiled.

"It's not borrowing when it's your money Shine. But you're coming along if you touched it. Seems a worthy reason to have our man time, as you called it, infiltrated. "

Cole nodded in agreement then in one step hugged and lifted Jenna off the counter. As she laughed, Ethan wrapped his arms around the pair of them and held all he'd ever need.


	18. Separate Togetherness

**Cole**

The alarm app chimed half a beat before it was switched off. Cole had already been in that half-awake state. As quietly as he could manage he slipped into the hallway. He glanced at the bathroom, wanting a shower but not wanting to risk he noise. It was lucky enough no one would be sleeping in the living room. Keith spent the night at his boyfriends, so Ethan had taken his room. And though he'd still been buzzed off the rooftop shenanigans they'd gotten into all afternoon through after twelve, Cole had decided last night he'd be the first up and make everyone breakfast.

Jenna was rarely not the first up, which was why he'd used the alarm and set it for the terrible hour of 6:30. He knew no matter how late she stayed up, her internal clock woke her at 7:30 if she was home, 7 or earlier if she was someplace different. At all their sleepovers from children on, she would make her own morning while she waited for them. Or getting jealous of Ethan, who had the talent of sleeping whenever and wherever, would decide when they should wake.

In lieu of that shower, Cole opened the freezer and stuck his head in for a minute. He didn't mind being up this early though. It gave him the moments to enjoy knowing they were there, but still having his own time. Separate togetherness was one of his favorite parts of having Ethan and Jenna. And it seemed a good morning to show it. He wasn't much in the kitchen but when he'd gotten his first apartment Ethan's father Dean had taught the two of them how to make decent pancakes. The undertone of them being for the possible "morning after" wasn't lost on them, but Cole figured it was a handy skill no matter what the use.

After measuring out coffee to brew and gathering what he needed to cook, he stared at the machine willing it to brew faster. He'd barely gotten past his first sip when he heard a door creak and the bathroom one follow. With a shake of his head he leaned against the counter, calculating he had at least fifteen minutes more. The cue of the shower had him smiling.

He was cracking the egg when Jenna wandered out. She'd managed to get half her choppy hair pulled back in a tail and put a short dress over leggings before the griddle was hot. Her eyes were still a bit heavy before coffee but her smile bright as she took in the kitchen scene. Saying nothing she rubbed on the back of Cole's shoulder while reaching in a cabinet and passing him the cinnamon.

"Dean always forgot that one." She said as she moved to the machine to doctor her coffee.

"Did you sleep or do your toss game?"

"A bit of both. The mattress Ethan has in there is better than mine though."

"That's not saying much." Whisking he looked over at her sharply. "It's time for a wake there. Long past time."

"If the car cooperates next tax return season, then the time will be here. Drop it." She added hastily before he could growl at her. Once again she posted herself on the counter.

Thinking of the progress she'd made with getting a flight out here, Cole buried the frustration down. "I thought we'd have an easy morning. I have to drop off a portrait, other than that nothing going until I stop by PIN later."

"About that. You need to tell me now if you want me to head Ethan off with that."

"If I did, I would have myself."

"You couldn't have. I however," She buffed her nails over the collar of her dress, "Could. It's the other reason I came. If you aren't ready then I'll tell him to ease off and wait for another visit."

"Last month when he said he'd meet her when he visited you were gung-ho."

"That was before."

"Before what?" Cole grinned when he flipped the first pancake and saw the coloring was perfect.

Jenna's eyes narrowed at his back and looked around for something to throw. Coming up with a bottle cap she let it fly. With a smug look for Cole's answering glare, she snuggled back against the cabinets and lifted her mug. "Before she was your girlfriend you little shit."

"Don't start that. We haven't defined anything, we haven't even had a date yet. Her schedule picked up for a minute there night work wise, so we've only managed to see each other at PIN." He paused to put a popcorn bowl over the plate to keep the pancakes warm as he went.

"Where I'm sure you've been spending more time than you usually do."

Cole shrugged. "It's changed, I'm not trying to bullshit you there. I just don't want you two….I don't know."

"Embarrassing you? We're not going to ask her what her intentions are."

"No. Getting your hopes up."

Jenna lifted her head and shook it at the back of his. Boosting herself down she went and wrapped her arms around him. Smiling as he tapped her hand with the spatula she laid her head against his back. "Michael. I don't care what other people have said over the years. Ethan and I are not sitting here waiting for you to find someone so we'll have another team member here. The three of us is plenty. I don't think about it any more than you do. The only thing I think of is you being happy. Ethan and I have been that kind of happy before, it's only natural we'd get excited for you to find yours."

"Yet I'm positive you'd be the first one to tell me I can be perfectly happy on my own."

Smiling against his shirt Jenna shrugged. "Goes without saying. But that's me. There could be something more out there for you. But we won't put that pressure on this. You two haven't had a date yet so it's just new friends getting together. If you want to wait though…"

"I don't." He flipped another pancake under the dome. "I think I'm different than you two. I can't decide where this is going if I don't know how she clicks with my other sides."

As Jenna laughed Ethan stomped his way down the hall. "Uh oh."

"Why is there speaking? Why is there laughter?" His half open eyes moved from one to the other. "Move." He snarled at Jenna as she shifted to let him towards the coffee. After taking a gulp straight from the pot he blinked a few times. His expression lit as he looked at the nearly empty batter bowl and skillet. "Pancakes?! Hot damn."

"Like a magic trick that is." Jenna rolled her eyes. "I'm going to set up trays in front of the tv so we can eat like the civilized."

They passed the early morning watching and laughing at the Jackass movies they'd loved when they were teenagers. Then while Ethan did the dishes and got ready, Cole and Jenna watched one of their BBC shows as Jenna took out her laptop to check on work emails. In some ways it had been what Cole always pictured their adult lives would be. Maybe he thought they'd live in the same town and recreate scenes from Friends and Seinfeld. Always bursting into each other's homes. But they melded like that now. Their separate togetherness he thought again.

Once Ethan wandered back in, Cole took his turn after setting the other two up with some of his recent works. He liked hearing their comments after he got out of the shower to get dressed. He had enough confidence in his work to stop being baffled at their pride, but it never failed to humble and reassure him. When he'd started on this path he had days of doubt that it was right. One a teacher or two had also voiced. With his IQ wasn't it more prudent to pursue academic avenues rather than creative? But it only took the look his parents and friends had gotten when they looked at something he captured to keep him moving forward.

Hefting the wrapped portrait he had to deliver he walked back out and grinned as Ethan held up a print excitedly.

"When did you get this?" He pointed at the shot of his father.

"He came through on his way upstate for a show. Only had an hour but he sprang for lunch. I couldn't resist that one when he went to get a cab."

The picture showed Dean from the back, one leg mid step, one hand stretched behind him to adjust the collar on his worn leather jacket, that despite the black and white of the shot, they all knew was a cognac brown and older than all of them. At fifty two, Dean Kelly was still a badass even when simply walking towards a curb.

"What are your plans for it?" Ethan asked, knowing Cole tended to see something they didn't.

"I had him sign a release. Could be a poster for a music shop. You can always see the rockstar on that guy."

"Could be a book cover." Jenna put in and grinned when Cole pointed at her. "It's great. You should send it on to The Olympic. He's performed at that place enough times you know they'd love it. And for the twofer that you took it."

"Want to be my agent?" Cole tapped the package under his arm. "For now though we got to get going so I can drop this off before PIN."

Once they managed to get out they walked side by side towards the subway. He grinned when Jenna shoved Ethan at some joke he made. As Cole got out his phone to let Gilly know they'd be in soon, he felt the surprise at knowing he wasn't nervous at all. A few blocks later the three of them piled down the subway stairs, a mix of arguing, laughing, and wild hand gestures.

They never saw the figure that followed a few paces behind.


	19. Plan B

**Cole**

It wouldn't do to laugh. The view made it difficult, but Cole kept his lips pressed together and cleared his throat to hide what wanted to rise out. He leaned against the railing outside of PIN, taking in the scene before him.

Ethan was muttering to himself while Jenna paced a small half circle. Despite all their teasing, it would seem they were the nervous ones about going in.

"What do we even know about this girl?" Ethan asked.

"Next to nothing." Cole answered cheerfully, while Jenna threw up her hands. "What's the damage?"

"No damage. I have none." Ethan went back to muttering.

"She was sweet in her email." Jenna insisted for the second time in twenty minutes. "She didn't seem threatened."

Cole shook his head. "Why would she be?"

"Becky Hutcherson." Jenna pointed.

"Fair point. But that was high school." Ethan defended.

"You two." Jenna paced away. "You may have to deal with hearing your ladies bitch to you about being best friends with a woman but you have no empathy for what I deal with on my end."

"Yeah." Ethan rolled his eyes. "Because none of your guys have ever given Cole or I grief."

Jenna stopped. "Which?"

"Enough." Cole pushed away from the railing. "I'm going in, you two keep at the pump up work."

"Arrêtes." Jenna took a breath and swung down the stairs.

"That's _your_ girl." Cole told Ethan.

"No that's _your_ girl." Ethan squared his shoulders and followed.

Cole walked ahead and introduced them to the receptionist before they turned into the main office space. Once they did, he noticed it seemed to be an oddly tense day for one with few people there. He wasn't surprised to see it reflected in Gilly's expression as she hammered away at her keyboard. What he didn't expect was the jolt he got from seeing her. Or the one that followed from watching tension fade from her face as she took in the two by his side.

With a smile she stood up and rounded her desk. "First I'm so happy to meet you and second so sorry for what you may hear." She turned to Cole. "It's been a day. Maybe run?"

"We're really happy to meet you too." Jenna took Gilly's hand in hers as the two seemed to consider each other.

Ethan nudged Jenna aside and shook Gilly's hand as well. "What happened? Ethan by the way." He tapped his other hand on his chest.

"Mitch is in the process of quitting." She looked back at an office with the blinds closed at the other end of the room. "Big boss is trying to talk him down, but there's been much yelling. Most everyone else jumped at the chance to knock off."

"You should probably run with us then." Jenna insisted and reached back for Cole, tugging on his shirt collar. "Go drop off your work so we can get her out."

"I really shouldn't, at least not until everything is settled. Mitch is my boss." Gilly explained. "I have no fondness for him, but still."

We should get going then." Jenna smacked the back of her hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Not a good day for you two to have guests at the office."

"Are you off tonight?" Ethan asked her.

"Finally, yes." Gilly smiled at Cole then, and he caught Jenna and Ethan kick their foot at one another the same moment.

"We're going to take you to dinner and hanging out and that will fix the day." He told Gilly and patted his pockets for the USB he brought his work on. "I'm going to run this over to Liza's desk." He told the other two. "I'll stay here, text what place you come up with and we'll meet you." He told them as he started walking over.

At the corner office a chair was thrown, and while the glass of the office held against the sharp crack, the shouting reached the outside.

"Absolutely not." Jenna said and grabbing Gilly's hand and shouldering the backpack behind her chair, began pulling her towards the exit. "Buachaillí!" Jenna called.

"Right then, plan B." Ethan walked over and steered a hand on Cole's shoulder. "Your work is late a day."

"Welcome to New York am I right?" Cole said and dropped his USB at the front desk.

They were laughing about it once they reached the top of the stairs.

"It's usually not that thrilling down there." Gilly explained. "What was that you said?"

"Lads." Jenna answered.

"It's Gaelic." Ethan put in as he took out his phone to search food options.

"We tend to jump between a few. Ethan and I are Irish, Jenna is French, so those are the go to's. I don't have the ear for French that they do." Cole crossed his eyes at Jenna. "It's rude though, we'll keep it at a minimum."

"Handy in school I imagine." Gilly smirked. "I went with Spanish."

"That's what I learned in school, while those two kept at French. There, we'll be even." Cole felt his hand itching to take Gilly's but wasn't sure it was the time to in front of the others.

She solved that by taking his. "Where are we off to?" She asked the others, meeting Jenna's smile.

Cole guided them to Ellen's, the scene at PIN evaporated even the thought of awkwardness. They moved through the crowded streets very much a unit, though none of them would likely admit it. Cole might have wished for this a handful of times over the years but he wasn't ready to think he'd found it. But it was hard to argue how she and Jenna spoke over each other, yet seemed to keep a conversation, and how she whacked the back of Ethan's head when intercepted her grab for her backpack, and slung it over his own shoulder. Or even when his own hand at her mid back as they hustled across a crosswalk, it all felt natural. As they burrowed together in a booth Cole caught a look and threw back his head and made a grumbling sound.

"What?" Gilly asked.

"That." Cole jerked his head at Jenna, who was giving him that expectant smile.

"She's just smiling." Gilly insisted over Ethan's chuckle.

"Yeah, wait until she aims that particular one at you." Cole narrowed his eyes back at Jenna. "What is it?"

"Why haven't you taken her out yet?"

"Shine, it's not even 6pm, we agreed no assassination talk until full dark." Ethan passed the menus around.

"Why Shine?" Gilly ignored Cole and Jenna's staring match. "It's a nickname I assume."

Ethan rubbed his hands together. "My first crack at a story excerpt. "We all have our share of nicknames. That one is going on seventeen years old, Jesus. Simple enough meaning, she makes things shine. When we were kids whenever one of us or anyone really was having a day she'd do some little thing to try and fix it. When it took she'd say 'there, shining like a new penny' like the cheese pot she was and well, Penny didn't suit her." Not letting go of his menu, Ethan tipped over to mock head but Jenna. "Nerd."

"Makes up for my numerous irritating qualities." Aiming that expectant smile at Gilly she ignored Cole's 'aha.' "What sort of nicknames do you have?"

"Gilly is a nickname." She shrugged at Cole's surprised look. "It stuck enough that it's the name I use. My actual name is Gilda. My mother apparently wanted to name Goldie, but my dad hated it. Said Gilda was a good compromise since it meant the same thing."

Ethan smiled slowly. "So you could say you're gilded."

"One could say you're golden." Jenna added.

"Ponyboy." The three said over a laugh.

"And what was Ponyboy?" Cole asked Ethan.

"A writer."

Gilly laid her head on the table and sighed.

"Who gave you Gilly?" Jenna propped her chin on her hand.

"My step brother. I was twelve too." Gilly sighed again but with a smile.

"Well well." Cole leaned back. "Now I know three historic Gilly facts."

"What are the other two?" Ethan and Jenna asked.

"No no. Why are you assassinating me?" Gilly pointed.

"Oh that." Jenna waved her hand at Ethan. "Don't try and distract me again with your bro code tactics. Why haven't you taken her out?" She danced her fingers between Cole and Gilly.

"We've established that. Gilly's second job had a bit of a crisis and she had to take more shifts."

Jenna nodded. "I don't want you missing time is all."

Cole felt his earlier annoyance dissipate and took Gilly's hand under the table while the conversation steered into more of Gilly getting to know the others. She asked about their work and day to day. Before long he realized she was trying to know them as their individual selves. Watching from afar, though never separate, he knew he'd missed time after all.

They lingered over the meal. Even without his camera Cole felt moments imprinting in his mind. Gilly's eye wiping laugh at something he and Ethan had been saying. Jenna taking his side in an argument over a beloved tv show's ending, while Ethan and Gilly shouted back and walked ahead when they left the diner. Watching as the kid who had once pushed Cole behind him to block a hit, grabbed the hand of the girl he couldn't wait to simply take out on a date, and dashed across a busy intersection. And feeling Jenna's happy sigh as they followed a few steps behind.

As Ethan and Gilly bonded over their mutual bartending rap sheets, they flocked to a bar that promoted a trivia tournament. Once they had drinks and commandeered at least two stools, Ethan whooped at a song change and offered his hand to Jenna.

"C'mon."

While she smiled she shook her head firmly. "Uh uh."

"You gotta, look at them, they don't even know what moves look like."

"Not this time."

"Jenna Anne." His tone softer, as Gilly raised a brow.

"Not tonight cher, but I do see a very eager red head that hasn't taken her eyes off you." Jenna wiggled her shoulders. "I know you're on a breather from the females, but she looks ready for a dance."

"So she does." But Ethan stopped to rub his knuckles over her cheek before walking off.

"Well the first round took them long enough to fetch, I think I'll put in the order for our second now." Jenna turned and boosted herself to lean over the bar.

"She doesn't dance?" Gilly asked Cole.

"They're brilliant." Cole managed a grin as Ethan spun the redhead out to the floor.

"I hope I see that."

"You and me both." He shook his head at her look. "Not a story for now."

"Not a story for just you to tell either."

Cole looked down at her with eyebrow quirked. Gilly jerked a shoulder.

"What's happened to her isn't just yours to tell. It's theirs too. The three of you share everything so that means pain. Maybe one day I'll share it too, if only as a friend."

Before he could lean in and do anything reckless, Jenna flopped back over and laughed in Ethan's direction. It seemed the redhead was taking more a grinding approach rather than dancing, and a touch over enthusiastically.

"Michael, go rescue him before he gets an infection."

"Pinch his ass or something." Gilly offered. "No need for her to feel let down."

Shaking his head Cole started walking towards Ethan when he felt a sensation he hadn't in a while. He stiffened as he glanced around. The crowd may have appreciated the break in the stiff air, and assumed it was front the door opening and shutting. As Cole looked for the telltale blur, he saw nothing, but he felt it. Judging on how Ethan seemingly casually detached himself from the girl, Cole knew he'd felt the same.

Glancing back at the girls he waited for Jenna to sense him and then jerked his head at the door and then held up two fingers as Ethan reached him. If she was curious she masked it, as she went back to talking to Gilly. Once he and Ethan were out and clear of the smokers, Cole let out a breath.

"You feel it or just picked it up from me?"

"Both." Ethan scanned around. "I didn't get a look at anything."

"Me neither. Whoever is gone, probably the second I looked. I think only one though."

"Well that could still be either side." Ethan ran a hand through his hair. "What's your take?"

"I haven't felt that here. Ever. Only back in Forks. That one time upstate. But never in the city."

"So can't be a coincidence that it's when we're all here."

"The three of us have been in the city before." Cole stalked away and back, his jaw tight.

"Cole." Ethan's voice softened as it had with Jenna. "It's not the three of us anymore. That might have been tempting enough over the years but if either side caught a whiff of there being four…"

"I'm not with Gilly because of some goddamn theory that probably doesn't have anything to do with us." Cole reigned in the urge to kick a nearby garbage can. What was the use? "I don't give a shit about any of it."

"Do you think I don't know that? Do you think it was different when it was Jenna or when it was me? I wasn't with Summer because some crazies decided what we were before we were born. I don't love her because I was told that's what would happen."

The temper that had flashed was quickly banked for both of them. It only took the mention of Summer for Ethan, and the present tense he used for Cole.

"I know you understand. And I'm not saying it's the same." Cole looked back at the bar. "Of course it isn't, she's barely told me anything about her."

"Look at this right here. You've barely told her about you."

"I will one day. It doesn't have to be now." He wanted this. This simple experience. No matter how casual he played, he knew a bond was there. And that he wanted it.

"No. She could quickly lose interest. You're not that appealing."

Cole's breath came out in a laugh. "Yeah well. There is that. Or Plan B, being friends with the likes of you kills it."

"Good to know we always have that option." Ethan looked back at the bar as well. "I'll tell Jenna. You put it out of your mind for now."

"She probably knows. I'll put them out of my mind, but I guess I was lying."

"About which?" Ethan asked as they walked back inside.

Cole stopped and just grinned. He saw Jenna and Gilly taking a shot, slamming the glasses top down on the bar. Heard Jenna's signature loud laugh over the speakers, even as Gilly's over the shoulder glance was aimed his way. He couldn't ignore how his system jolted as that glance turned to a beaming smile.

"I might not give a shit about theories, but I give a shit about this." He jerked his chin towards the girls.

"What's so bad about four anyway?" Ethan clapped Cole on the back before dragging him over to join in.

"Maith?" Jenna asked them.

"Good." Cole repeated. "No more Irish in front of the civilian. She just may learn it to spite us." He smiled at the shot glasses. "Speaking of Irish."

"The civilian had never had a shot before." Jenna explained. "I'm not about to have her first time be Whiskey."

"Some bartender." Ethan put in and earned a swat from Gilly.

"I needed bolstering." Gilly turned to Cole.

"For? A dance? I'll ruin the sport for you, I promise."

"I had a different dance in mind." Before either of them could think about it twice, Gilly got a grip on Cole's shirt and yanked him down, fixing his mouth to hers.

All the weeks of hesitating, of telling himself to keep it light until they were able to have their first date; became a memory. Part of him could hear Ethan's laughing cheer and Jenna's clapping. But all he felt was Gilly's lips on his, and her hands moving to the back of his neck as his scooped under her legs and lifted her from the stool.

When they broke apart Gilly said to his ear "Well that's interesting."

"Tip back." Still holding her Cole studied her flushed face and was pleased with what he saw there.

"Let the girl down before you make a spectacle." Jenna shook her head as she fluttered a hand at her neck. "My my."

"Right?" Ethan whistled low and signaled to the bartender and the empty shot glasses. "Four please."

Letting Gilly down, Cole took her hand in his and thought nothing was bad about four at all.


	20. Free Lesson

**Gilly**

Even without the shrill bells drilling a rusty screw into her head, Gilly knew the morning wasn't starting quite right.

"No no no no no no no." She chanted as she scrambled over the body she shared the bed with to slap at her alarm. Somehow she managed to keep her eyes shut and remaining in her head.

"God's be good." Came a muffled cry from under the covers.

"I'm not going in." Nor did she move back to her half of the bed. Still flopped over Jenna, Gilly feared the effort would have her brain sliding around too much.

"So you said half a dozen times last night. It's a Friday, everyone needs to call out of work on Friday once." Jenna peaked half her face out. "Gracious, I remember last night."

"Good. Go back to sleep."

"Can't do it. Never had the talent, hungover or not." Jenna ran a hand up and down Gilly's back. "Are you throwing up hungover or just head explosion hungover?"

"The ladder thank Jesus. Course, we haven't moved yet." Gilly turned her head slowly and squinted around her tiny room. "Wait, where are they?"

"Who knows? They definitely made it back with us. Maybe Ethan took up with your roommate. He's been in a romantic upheaval."

"Gabby. He mentioned that. Doubtful he's in with Alexia, but that would be a trip." Gilly inched her way back to her side of the bed, pleased the movement didn't jar any nausea.

For a while they lay there, staring at the ceiling. Gilly waited for a wary or awkwardness to build but there was none. She'd never been this comfortable with anyone within twenty four hours of meeting them. And there was Jenna in her bed and Ethan somewhere in her apartment with the man she'd known under a year and kissed brainless in a bar. She couldn't help but snicker.

"What's funny?"

"Everything." Gilly risked all, and pushed herself up and out. Too cheered to feel the hangover for the moment she felt around for her slippers. "I'm going to get a batch of fix made up."

"Fix?"

"Bartender remember."

"Ohhh." Jenna sunk down a bit but pointed. "Ethan has one of those. A tournament!" She waved her finger and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm going to come out and help you in just a month."

Gilly eased out into the hall, pleased that she felt steady on her feet, though aware once more of the clogging on her forehead. Alexia's door was half open and leaning over Gilly saw she was the only occupant of her bed. Glancing into the living room she felt certain the lump on the floor and the other on the armchair were the boys, but didn't go in. No need for all of them to be up at 6:30 when her fix wasn't even made yet. Once she reached the kitchen she switched on the stove light rather than main and got to work.

The amount of fun she'd had was more than worth paying for the trouble. They'd stayed for the trivia games that hadn't started until 9, and didn't leave until closing. The late hour made the choice for everyone to stay at her place an obvious one. Thinking of the text she'd sent Alexia asking if it was alright made Gilly smile. Its reply had read "_you? a gang of pals? by all means." _

It had been a night of firsts. She'd never laughed so much in public. Had never felt safe enough to let herself get drunk with friends. And certainly never been the first to kiss someone. That memory of the night alone had her brushing fingertips over her lips and giving a little booty shake. Boy oh boy. The night may have been one for the books but the kiss had knocked all of them off the shelves.

Another surprise had been witnessing that none of what Cole had told her so far had been embellished at all. She'd never witnessed a closer group of friends, and they had been so easy with each other. The terms of endearment were thrown around with less inhibition than she'd ever had. Nor had she ever heard to men say baby to one another before last night. And while she considered herself pretty open affection wise once she was familiar with someone, the three of them took it to a whole other level. There'd been hugs in lieu of handshakes. She'd watched Ethan lift Jenna when excited during trivia, and rest his arm around Cole during the brief subway ride. In some respects she knew that's why it was understandable that people were confused about them. But mostly she found it added to the magic. To be that unreserved.

Yet, she felt a part of it all. Hadn't she leaned against Jenna, with her legs over Cole during that subway ride? Taken the offered piggy back from Ethan up to her building? There had been no question any time Cole took her hand or any time she'd felt something for any of them. For once Gilly didn't thing, she just went with it.

And hadn't it been nice to talk to another woman about such things? Playing it over again Gilly smiled as she recalled leaning closer to Jenna while the guys took some air outside.

"_I think he almost kissed me."_

"_Oh, you think he…merde…tell me."_

"_He leaned like he was going to and I nearly did but…I don't know. We're trying to get somewhere. That would be way out of order."_

"_Out of order?" Jenna nodded. "Free lesson jeune ami, as someone who once wanted to do things by my own internal book. It doesn't matter." Jenna waved a hand as if to wave the thought away. "The feelings you have is what matters, that's what will carry you wherever you decide to take this. That's what you'll need to fight the fight if things get tough. Not rules and order, whether you're thinking them because of what society says or what you say."_

_Gilly considered a moment. "I don't give much thought to social ideas. It's about how I've always done things."_

"_And I'm sure they've suited you well. I wouldn't like you so much otherwise. But that boy. He doesn't live by social ideas either, but he's got a code. In his thick skull, he won't make a move until he's certain. Not of his feelings for you, he knows his mind and heart. But he's still not quite certain of yours." Jenna put an arm around Gilly as they leaned back in their stools against the bar. Her other hand reached out to clap against the wood. "Sean is it? Can we get two lemon drops please?" She turned back to Gilly. "I usually go with more kick if you're doing a shot, but we'll ease into that corruption."_

"_And now we won't have to hear the guys grumble about girl drinks?"_

_Jenna slapped a hand on Gilly's leg. "Exactly that." She swiveled around in her stool when the shots came. "That was speedy quick handsome, good show." And handed one to Gilly. _

"_It's the eyes that do it." Gilly said before Jenna could clink her glass against Gilly's. _

"_That draw you in?" Jenna wiggled her brows. "They range from velvet dove to hell smoke is what I've heard."_

"_They're what give you away." Gilly said sadly. "I thought that just from a picture, but that was nothing compared to the live version."_

"_You writers see more than us mere mortals." Jenna traced a finger over the rim of the glass. "You seeing a past life?"_

"_You're not oblivious. I'm sure you've been told before that you give off this effortless charisma. That it doesn't matter what you're doing, you live." _

"_I insist on it, yes."_

"_But your eyes are older than you. They show it all. The charm might be effortless but the living isn't. Far from it."_

_Jenna seemed to consider her a moment before she nodded. "No one has it easy. Everyone has their pain. Those boys out there like to forget that. I don't want you to. Don't see me differently, just because you can see me a little more clearly." _

_Gilly smiled back. "So long as you remember I'm a writer, but I'm also a woman you can talk to if you get sick of only talking to men about it. Not everything ends up on piece of paper. Not for me."_

"_Oh I know." Jenna winked._

"_And so long as you remember those boys out there forget that you aren't the only person on Earth with pain because they love you more than everyone else." She raised her glass towards her._

_Jenna smirked as she touched hers to Gilly's before they knocked them back._

Gilly happily hummed as she hunted up a wooden spoon for the pitcher she'd added her secret fix to. If the kiss with Cole had been the highlight of her night, feeling that free with Jenna was a close second.

Getting out glasses, there may have been a little flourish to her spin back to the sink, which came to a halt when she saw a figure in the doorway. Her curse was muffled as she buried her mouth into the crook of her elbow to keep from dropping the glasses.

"Easy killer." Cole leaned his head against the door frame. "No sudden noises please."

"Shhh yourself." She whispered.

"Really no point, Jenna Anne is going to jump Ethan once she realizes he's the only one asleep."

"Alexia doesn't work until later in the day."

"Oh, right." Cole dropped his voice. "We'll have to head off her off."

"How did you know she was awake?" Gilly turned to look at him and shook her head at his crooked smile. "Nevermind. How poorly are you feeling?"

He moved into the square kitchen, keeping quiet. "Been worse. I think being a shot behind of the rest of you helped."

"Looking out were you?" She smiled when she felt his forehead rest on her shoulder.

"Speaking of, we aren't working today right?"

"No. I wish drunk me remembered that life choice and turned off the alarm, but present me is just fine with a little time alone."

"Tomorrow night."

"Is Saturday?"

"For our first date."

Gilly turned and gestured to the living room and back at her bedroom door.

"That would be why I refrained from saying tonight, plus hangovers. Ethan said he was going to take Jenna to the airport and then sleep for a year tomorrow. You work the bar tonight right?"

Pleased he remembered she nodded as she poured four glasses. "I don't want to blow that off but yes for the first time in quite a bit Saturday is open."

"Then it's a date?"

"A date." Gilly leaned in to brush her lips over his cheek to seal it.

"If you want to rest or have plans for your snow day here, just let me know. I'll get the troops out."

Handing him a glass of the fix Gilly shook her head. "No plans, and no need for anyone to leave."

Jenna stalked out and evaded Cole's attempt at a grab as she made her way to the lump on the floor. He whispered something rapidly at her, but Gilly couldn't catch it. Sighing she turned over the corner to watch the show.

She started as Ethan came awake before Jenna could kneel, and lightening quick wrapped an arm around her legs, and with a push she fell in a heap between him and the couch.

"Mr. Masen, make haste. I have the witch." He shifted so his arms were around her legs and a leg sprawled across her back. Languages flew from beneath him.

"Will you knock it off, Alexia is still in her room."

"The spoils of war. Ah, shit." He squinted his eyes against the light coming in from the kitchen.

"I have a fix for that." Gilly waved her glass, which was snatched out of her hand. "Oh, hey." She smiled sheepishly at Alexia.

Alexia surveyed the room while she pushed at her dark hair. Then held up one finger and gave her bleary eyed attention to the glass, downing half before speaking. "I came in an hour after you people, and it took me six tries to get out of my room. What are you?"

"Sorry for the noise. I forgot to shut off my alarm and then." Gilly turned to the living room "Well."

"Mhm. Thanks for this." She lifted the glass and wandered back to her room.

"Oof, she's got a bad one. Hah, I still got it." Ethan wiggled his shoulders, and then winced. "But also, PSA, twenty eight is too old for floor sleeping." In trying to stretch he lost grip of Jenna. "God damn." He managed before she grabbed a remote and held it to his throat.

"Done for." Cole told him.

"Alright alright." He glared up at Jenna. "Parlay."

Jenna snickered and got up to do a quick shimmy. "_Dorée, if I could have a cup of that fix please. Maybe half for my fellow combatant." She sneered at Ethan, but offered her hand._

_"Dory?" Gilly turned to get theirs. _

_"Dorée." Ethan said, emphasizing the e. "Bless you." He took both glasses in one palm, and grabbed her hand to kiss with the other. "Golden?" He asked Jenna._

_"Gilded." She corrected and smiled at Gilly over the rim. "Another for her." _

_Not sure of her words, Gilly bit the inside of her lip while Ethan and Jenna argued over who got first dibs of the bathroom. She felt Cole's hand cup the back of her neck and smiled up at him. _

_"Sure you don't want to kick them out?" He whispered with her favorite crooked smile._

_"Not on your life." And for the moment she let herself simply lean._


	21. The Sun Was Shining

**Then**

The sun was shining. Of all the things that stuck out about that day, the sun shining on the cemetery lawn during a funeral in the Pacific Northwest was one of the darkest. Cole wouldn't see the faces of half the guests. He wouldn't focus on the words said. But even then he knew he would always remember how those two coffins looked, gleaming in the sun.

He felt Ethan and Jenna sitting on either side of him. His grandparents may have disapproved of him not sitting with them, but mourning their daughter took more precedence than trying to understand their teenage grandson. It was just as well. And he was where he needed to be.

Jenna's arm was looped through his, while Ethan's hand lay steady on his knee. It may have looked like they were keeping him in place, but even in his grief he knew all it would take was one look and they would get him out of there. But he needed to do this thing. He didn't believe his parents were in those boxes, but he knew they were with him. Knew they would always be wherever he went. So he would stick through this and be there for them, this last time.

Every so often Cece would touch the back of his shoulders. She sat behind him with Phillip. Dean had been in town since it happened, and had cleared his schedule for who knew how long. He sat on the other side of Ethan, glancing around. He imagined all the adults were nervous.

The police didn't have much to say about the string of murders in Seattle. Cole's parents making that list didn't shed any new light. The only thing they seemed concrete on was there were no connections between victims and no reason for their families to fear. Cole couldn't say he feared much anymore. One of the worst had already happened. But the murders touching close to home had put everyone else on alert. Even Phillip, who never seemed to have a worry, had been on edge.

He might have thought their behavior was why he was twitchy but if he was being honest it was the staring. As a sudden orphan part of him already knew this would be his new norm, but there was something about the way this person stared that had his hair standing on end. Taking the shiver that went with it as a chill, Jenna used her free hand to rub Cole's arm. He looked down at her and then over at Ethan, and back at the man staring, so the other two followed his glance. Jenna stopped rubbing his arm and Ethan tensed. Cole knew they felt it too.

The first person to leave Cole's parents funeral was Carlisle Cullen.

**Now**

On instinct Cole's arm flung out to keep him from taking a header off the couch as he woke. From one of the other chairs Ethan raised a brow.

"Spaz." He reached for the remote and put the volume back up.

"Yeah well, nightmare." Cole rubbed a hand down his face.

"That's supposed to be the beauty of a catnap, no dreaming." But Ethan looked over. "Which?"

"The funeral."

Ethan sighed and turned off the tv. "How long has that been?"

"I don't even know." He looked around. "Jenna?"

"In Keith's room. Want me to get her?"

"No. No need. It's nothing we haven't gone over. It was just focused on Carlisle staring at us."

"At you. Him being there wasn't about us and you know it."

"I don't want to go into it. Not today. Damn." Absently he kicked the leg of the coffee table. "I didn't want to be thinking of this stuff today."

"About your parents or the big matter?"

While half of the dread the dream induced was gone at the understanding in Ethan's voice, Cole felt the rest weigh him down. "Either." He answered.

Ethan nodded. "It's always there. Always going to be there. Even on hot date days."

Knowing he was trying to cheer him, Cole put some effort into it himself and sat up. "Probably should do something about all this."

"If you think Keith hasn't already set clothes out, then you're in a sorry state. Do you have a plan?"

"I might not date as often as you but I remember the mechanics."

"Yeah, try online dating. The mechanics were thrown out the window." At a knock at the door Ethan frowned. "What's the point of having a buzzer if no one needs to use it anymore?" He got up to look through the peep hole and laughed.

"It's not Gilly." Cole said, glancing at his watch.

Ethan opened the door and Dean walked in.

"For fucks sake." Cole flopped his face into the couch cushions.

"Hey!" Dean used the voice he ordinarily saved for when 'you're grounded' followed it.

"Son. Right here." Ethan put in as he closed the door. "I thought you were coming by early next week."

"Dad. Added another show to get more time with the kids. Right here." Dean wrapped and arm around Ethan. "What's wrong with the youngest? First date jitters?"

As a door at the end of the hallway burst open Jenna let out a gasp and pointed at Dean, who pointed back at her.

"Mr K!" She ran down the hall and Dean wrapped his free arm around her.

"Miz J. Now, I didn't know you were here."

"I'm leaving tonight, so at least I caught you. This one is taking me to the airport soon." She tapped a hand on Ethan's shoulder.

"Well I'll take you two out to early dinner then. Gives this one more time to primp." But he walked over and wrapped Cole in a bear hug. "Good to see you even if you're mad about it."

"It's just a date, everyone needs to stop making it an event."

"Right, right." Dean grinned as Keith came into the room. "Long time Keith, how you been?"

Keith scoffed and merely said "Javier" before sailing into the kitchen. Naturally, he believed Dean was the Irish Javier Bardem.

"He's ticked because the gig is putting you up at a hotel and you're not staying here in the splendor of Brooklyn." Cole broke away but with a wink. "I told him you'd be here often enough with that one visiting."

"So glad to hear how happy you are that I'm in town." Ethan put in and followed Keith into the kitchen.

"Well Keith will just have to come to dinner with us." Dean sent his smirk Cole's way. "What will you do with an empty apartment I wonder?"

Cole glared but before he took the bait Jenna flicked her hand at Dean while the other was filled with a mug of coffee from Ethan. "Don't start on him. He's got the forehead wrinkles already, he's nervous."

"I'm not, and I'm not bringing her back here, what do you take me for?"

"All I needed to know kid." Dean tapped a hand on Cole's shoulder before settling on the couch. His grin spread as Keith brought him a coffee as well.

"He's serious about this one." Keith told him and shrugged at Cole's curse. "No point in you getting riled that all of us are excited about it Leo. So we're going to dinner?" He added to Dean.

"Early bird. Those two have to leave to the airport and I go on at eight." He pat Jenna's knee as she plopped down next to him with a pout. "You'll catch another show. Will you be back by then you think?" He asked Ethan.

"Cutting it close, but maybe. Bunk at the hotel?" At Dean's smile Ethan nodded to Cole and Keith. "Your kingdom is back to being your own for a night."

"We're good hosts, I don't know what the problem is." He said to Cole and then sighed. "I put your outfit over your bed."

"Told you." Ethan glanced at his watch. "We might as well get moving. Too damn crowded in here."

Cole almost argued against it, but catching the look from Ethan he kept quiet. His friend knew him enough to know when he needed alone time before even Cole. Didn't mean he had to tell Ethan he was right though.

And since the dream was still raw in his mind, he felt uneasy saying goodbye to Jenna, as he knew he would once Ethan took off. They'd understand that feeling of "what if something happens." Perhaps they'd all feel it more so knowing about their onlooker the other night. Regardless, he hugged her a little harder, nodded where words are unnecessary. As she leaned back, she squeezed each of his arms and sighed.

"Alright. You're it again. Make the time in between visits short if you know what's good for you."

"I'll call you tomorrow."

She touched his face. "Have so much fun."

"Geall." He added so she'd smile. "See the rest of you later or tomorrow."

"I may stay at the hotel too. Or Marks. Just in case." Keith held up his hands at Cole's mock glare and retreated.

Once alone Cole hunted up his phone. After checking the weather he made a quick call to set an idea he had for later in motion. Then firing off a text to Gilly, he wandered back to his room.

_(C) Still good to meet at your stoop at 6? Then walk over to Tavola? _

_(G) Wouldn't it be easier for you to head straight to the restaurant? It's closer to the subway than my building._

_(C) No, it's definitely easier to walk together._

_(G) You're impossible. Lucky I'm excited. See you at 6. _

He was still smiling when he got out of the shower and dressed. Calculating the time he needed to catch the right train, he turned on his computer to unwind. Technically it was working, but it amounted to the same thing. He uploaded the photos he'd taken on his phone the day before. They'd just been at Gilly's apartment most of the day, and he hadn't had his camera, but there were a few shots he saw potential with. He hadn't gotten any of them entirely, which wasn't his goal anyways. But he'd wanted something that captured the mood. A vibe he felt like more than some would know.

He'd reached the mark with the third shot. The show they had been watching was blurred in the background. As was the forefront of socked feet on the coffee table, a folded leg, with mug balanced on the knee. The only light was a flickering candle and that tv screen. An open pizza box showed crusts and a tinfoil bowl with a hand forking up cold Chinese noodles. Maybe he'd sell it, hell there was probably a market for the basic shot on PIN. But for him it was a good memory, so for the moment he saved it to one of his personal USB's as well. Looking through the albums he had on it, he clicked on one even knowing he shouldn't.

Anyone would consider it a compiling of his best work. All of them would be ones to show Gilly one day. Both if they continued seeing each other and if they continued the story. They told most of it all on their own. Which was why it almost hurt to look at them. He clicked on the one he considered the tipping point of photography being a hobby and it being a part of who he was. It was also arguably the happiest moment in Jenna's life that he'd captured. And wasn't that something? She'd been one of the people to change his life, and it happened more than once. Not too many after that was another that he knew when he took, it was going to be something special. Ethan's face was half hidden in the hair of the one he would always love, and still the look of him left a catch in Cole's throat.

Both images were caught in moments of love. Cole may have never been in love himself but he knew he'd been experiencing some warning signs. Looking at those pictures made him both want to let the fall come, and run from it. He had a bit of both his friends if those were his options. Then thinking of his parents, and how happy they were, he shut down his computer and got going.

**Gilly**

She wasn't nervous.

Gilly may have spun that line on a loop to herself the last half hour. But she wasn't nervous. She was merely excited. Putting on her make up at her desk, she studied her reflection in approval. Yes, there was an excited blush about her. Her eyes looked bright and ready. Not. At all. Nervous.

She went to her closet to change her blouse for the sixth time.

How many got to say they had a date that an app hadn't provided them? So few. A hauntingly few. And she was not one of them. She was going out to dinner with someone she really liked. She was going to be young and free. She wasn't going to care about tomorrows, only this night.

Horseshit.

She may have the number stamped next to her name that suggested she was young, but she had never felt less so. They worked together for Christ sake, what was she thinking? Sighing, she took out her phone and scrolled to the picture Jenna had sent her. During trivia they'd played girls against boys, and the shot showed Cole leaning across the table and pointing at Gilly, who was touching a fist to her open palm. Still, both were grinning.

That's what she was thinking, she reminded herself. Maybe they both tended towards being serious but look at what they brought out in each other. She'd always felt like she was waiting for the fun to start, and suddenly it had.

Gilly took a breath and then walked to her door where her standing mirror hung. She smoothed the wisteria colored shirt. It was long sleeved, but with the temperatures rising for April, she knew she'd get away without having a coat. Turning to the side and pleased with the way the grey jeans clung, she gathered her things to put in a clutch. After checking the time, she sighed happy enough that she could stop thinking so damn much.

She locked up since the place was empty. Alexia had informed her earlier that she would be bunking at a friend's. That caused eighty percent of Gilly's overthinking even without Alexia's saucy wink. But as she reached the main door and saw Cole leaning against the street lamp pole, she knew all that thinking wasn't unwarranted.

Certainly there had been other times she had feelings for someone. There was even one time in college she thought it was love. But as she walked down Gilly couldn't conjure another time she felt so awakened yet at ease just from seeing someone. His hand reached up for hers and once they touched she felt…right. Nothing else mattered.

"I've never seen your hair down." He smiled. "I like it."

"Seemed the right occasion for it." She looped her arm through his as they began walking. "How are you?"

"Ready for a great night. Dean came to town early so everyone is occupied."

"Were you worried they were going to spy on us then?"

"I'm not going to lie. A little bit."

On the walk to the restaurant she told him how Mitch's quitting had her thinking it was time to start looking for other work herself.

"I'm not surprised and more than a little relieved. Now that I know you more I know it doesn't suit you."

"The way things are now, the luxury of choosing work based on how it suits you is pretty done."

"Maybe. I think you've got a good enough head on your shoulders that you're not searching for the perfect job, but I've got to believe one exists that can afford you a bit more security and happiness than you have going at PIN."

"I don't know. I'm willing to look, even though I did get one pretty great thing from it."

He wrapped and arm around her shoulders and she felt the warmth of it buzz through her.

Once they had arrived at the Italian place and ordered drinks, Gilly tilted her head.

"So what about you? Freelancing seems like a lot to juggle."

"It was at first. Still is during tax season. There's a lot of W2's to keep track of. Getting my agent took some of the sweat out of it but also takes a slice of the profit. But I found even if I have the head for numbers doesn't mean I want to be in it all the time. I'd rather spend the time on the pictures."

"I can understand that. It's funny that you and Ethan both have gypsy jobs and the one who grew up a gypsy doesn't."

"We're all halves." Cole considered. "Why haven't you looked into freelancing with writing?"

"There's more out there for photography. With writing I guess I want more control than would be available with freelance. Especially here. Although…." Gilly reached for her drink.

"Here isn't where you want to be." Cole nodded.

"I'm starting to wonder." She admitted. It was the first time she had out loud. "I thought I would get to see so much and have this energy. I did for a while in school but now that I'm out of that security I feel like mostly all I do is work. It's only been a year and a half though, it's not enough time for everything to fall into place."

"Maybe not. You have to work hard to get established and have what you need but I think the problem might be that the city isn't what you need."

Gilly shrugged. "I'm not overly concerned about it now. I don't know where I would even go."

"You'll figure it out. If there's anything I've learned is that we don't have only one home. You'll find yours." Putting down his menu he leaned forward. "Tell me something."

"I grew up in Saratoga Springs."

"No way." Cole's grin spread. "A lot of blue blood over there."

"Mmm unfortunately. My father is an insurance agent over there still. I don't go often. When he and my stepmom got divorced she moved back to Glen's Falls where she and Noah were originally from."

"Your stepbrother."

"Yeah." She couldn't stop the smile. "He's in Albany living his version of downtown life. They're pretty great. So when I go see family for holidays they're who I'll see."

"We make our own families." Cole tipped his glass to hers. "I like that area."

"Saratoga?"

"God no. Albany."

"You've been?"

"Many times. Jenna moved there after college. She'd spent a lot of time there when we were growing up. One of Phillips hot spots. When she moved there I thought it was going to be her place for good." He shook his head of it and his crooked smile flashed. "Did you horseback ride then? Sorry." He added when her eyes narrowed. "I assume you were by the racetrack."

Gilly sighed. "You're not wrong. I just don't particularly like that part of my life." But she didn't feel anything judgey from him. Knew she never would. "It's the poor rich girl thing."

"I've been known to talk about not seeing my parents because they had to work all the time just to buy me shoes. It's the poor trailer park kid thing. Sometimes our stereotypes fit us. Sometimes they're a pisser."

With a laugh she shrugged her shoulders. "They do I guess. I had all the rich girl things. Horseback riding lessons, piano lessons, dance classes. I hated all of it. I never went through that clichéd rebellion from it. I did what I was told because it didn't occur to me to do differently. To ask. But it was always an education of something, it never felt like living. It got better when dad married Joyce. She had money too but in a more quiet way. It didn't define her like it did my dad. But since I had everything I needed I don't remember ever voicing what I wanted. Not until I left and was alone. Then the real learning began."

"And what is it you learned you wanted?"

"To have my own. Growing up there it was this vibe of always wanting to be the best and have the best. Always making sure you're one step ahead of everyone else. I want to feel like what I have is what I've earned and enjoy it. I want to be content."

Cole smiled and lifted her hand to his face. "I think you're going to find what you want. You're doing most of that now."

"I'm trying. I think I've found how I want to write." For a moment she marveled. "I always thought it would be journalism but now. Well. I think for now I'll just focus on finding less volatile work."

"Here here." Cole kissed her knuckles to seal it and then leaned back as their food was served.

They spent the rest of the meal on easy topics. Tearing apart a book series they discovered they both enjoyed, and then laughing over a show. They lingered after the food was done and the check long paid. While toying with the idea of asking if he wanted to find some live music, Gilly started when Cole jumped up after checking his watch.

"We ought to get moving." He held out a hand and tugged her up.

"Oh yeah? Where to?

He didn't answer, but she found she didn't mind following as he zig and zagged them through the still busy traffic.

It wasn't long before he led them to a handsome old building. Gilly was sure she remembered it from one of her ramblings when she'd been exploring the area while at school. Before she could ask Cole why they were there, a doorman stepped out.

"Mr. Masen?" He asked.

"That would be me."

"Mr. Areshi said you can go right on up, just please check in on me before you leave. That way I know what I can lock."

"Absolutely. Thank you." Cole shook the man's hand with his free one and then ushered Gilly towards an elevator.

"What is it you're up to Mr. Masen?"

"I've worked for the owner a few times. We have an agreement that if I do portraits and other shots for him from time to time I can use his roof when he's traveling."

"That's some barter system."

"One of my favorites." As they got off the elevator they reached a small hall that held a door for the roof access stairs.

Once they were at the top and Cole opened the door out, Gilly's head fell back and she stomped one foot.

"I know." Cole agreed.

She stepped onto the flat stone walkway and looked up at the string lights strung from one arbor to another. Chaises were scattered about in a way that suggested a garden would be present once spring was in full bloom. There was a fire pit that had her clapping her hands together and rushing forward.

"Not yet." Cole said and went to a one of the two bags sitting on the table closest to the door.

"Cole, it's outdoor space in New York, we have to make the most of this."

"And we will, but I have a request first."

Warily Gilly watched him take a bottle of wine and the makings of s'mores out of the bag. "Well that's good way to start."

He carried them back to the fire pit. "I'll light this up and we'll get a share of both and the view. If you cooperate me taking a few pictures."

Glancing to the second bag shesmiled. "Your camera?"

Cole nodded and pointed above them. "Full moon. I can get some great shots."

Gilly looked back at the view ahead of them. Of how the moon and the city could light up the roof even without the string lights. She wasn't a photographer but she was a fellow creator and could see the appeal of the venue. "Absolutely, you have to."

"What I'd really like is to take your picture though." He gestured with the camera as she froze. "It's a good memory. No matter what happens this is our first date and it's been a special one. I've wanted to take your picture since that first conversation but I didn't know how I wanted it to be. Now I do."

She didn't know what to say. She'd seen much of his work. Some of it was commercial, some scenic. His portraits reminded her of paintings. But he wasn't asking her as a photographer who knew a good shot. She could hear in his tone that he wanted to remember this night, and at that moment all she wanted was to see how he would capture her. How was she seen to an artist like him? However at her continued silence his expression changed from hopeful to shielded. He put the camera down and walked over to her.

"If you don't like the idea or it's too personal you can just pick a shot and we'll have that."

"No, no. I like the idea a lot. I just didn't think. I…." She laughed a little and patted her hand on his shoulder. "You take pictures every day, but I imagine you don't take many on a date. It's a big deal is all, I wasn't expecting that you've been wanting to."

She watched his eyes shift as they took her in. His hand covered hers on his shoulder and moved it to his chest. His other hand came to her back as he moved in, covering her mouth with his. Her lips parted with her sigh as her free hand reached to touch the side of his face. She felt parts of her come awake again, and others she knew for the first time.

He shifted, still holding her close and placed a kiss to her forehead. "I haven't taken a date's pictures before because I haven't been on one where they understood it's a big deal." He turned his face to her hair, and she felt his lips there before she stepped back.

She looked around the rooftop patio. "Where do I go?"

"I think the ledge." He laughed at her mock shiver. "Not sitting on it. That would be a bit too relaxed for you."

"I'm relaxed. I'm on a roof here. That breaks so many first date rules, how much more relaxed can I get?"

Cole chose one of the padded benches and dragged it to the stone ledge. He angled it towards the moon and gestured to it.

"Do I take the Rose pose?" Gilly winked as she sat.

"Not quite. Tuck your legs under you, and lean an arm on the ledge." He started tinkering with his camera and lenses.

Assuming the position, Gilly goggled a bit at the view and the lights beyond her. He couldn't have chosen a better spot. Even if the city didn't suit her as she once wished it to, the view suited her mood during the date.

Bright.

She watched as he surveyed his choice, look through the camera, and then adjust something. Then placing his camera back on the table he shrugged out of his beaten up brown jacket, bringing it to her.

"Here, it's cooler up here in the open." He flashed a grin. "And now I'll be in the picture too."

She let the cuffs of the sleeves cover most of her hands as she sank back to the ledge. "We ought to take a picture of us too you know."

"Oh, we will. But this one is you. Can you put your hair up?" He trailed his hand down it.

"I thought you said you liked it." Gilly smirked as she reached into her pocket for the ever present hair tie.

"I do but I want to show more of your face, that's what suits you. Plus, it's always up, that's how I always picture you."

Considering him she put it up high on her head in its habitual loose bun. "You're awfully good at that you know."

"At what?"

"Making me feel like I'm something special. I'm not saying I'm not." She added when he primed to argue. "I'm saying not many men have taken the trouble to point it out."

"Well, it's no trouble and my privilege then." He motioned for her to get into position.

She adjusted the coat so she looked bundled in and wrapped her arms on the ledge so she could pillow the side of her head on them. Looking away from him she faced the moon and view. She felt her eyes on him, making her lips curve.

"There you are." His voice was low as he crouched.

"Am I supposed to look a certain way?"

"However you want. Think of you, think of us. I'll do the rest."

While he moved around her Gilly tuned out his muttering to himself and instead focused on the last few weeks. The comfort of them but also the excitement. She was moving towards something and she'd never felt this close to that feeling she'd wanted. She was living. And this was the very first time she wanted to share that with someone. She wanted this to grow as she'd always wanted herself to. And in that optimism one has in the beginning she felt she and Cole were well on their way. This was something special, and like everything else in her life she was going to earn it and enjoy it.

Hearing the clink of metal she looked over and saw Cole with one leg looped through one of the iron arbors and boosted so he appeared to be on a ladder. Surprised, she let out a laugh and one hand came to her mouth. Cole snapped that as well.

"That one is for me." He said with a little wonder mixed in with the pride. He jumped down and crossed towards her.

"Might be what I was thinking." She reached up and tugged him down. "When can I see them?"

"A couple days. I'll want to fiddle with them a bit. The lighting was great but I'll want to play on it further. But I know what I have here. It's going to be one of my best."

She buffed her nails on his jacket with a grin. "What will you call it?"

"A dream." He decided. Then he got up and tucked his camera on a high column table angling it towards the bench. After pressing some buttons he walked back, a tiny remote in his hand. "You decide, how should ours be?" He gave her the remote as he joined her on the bench.

Cupping it in the hand still on the ledge, she reached the other out to grasp his shirt again. "Like this." She said as his mouth quirked to the corner in that crooked grin she couldn't get enough of. Pressing the button the camera caught the image of Gilly pulling Cole closer as he reached for her face. As they weren't still, the image would reflect a blur, but that was them. Moving towards each other.

**Ahead**

Gilly ducked under a low branch as she ran towards the river. Her boots slid a bit as she sped hopefully far ahead from what followed. She heard her heart pounding in her ears along with the rushing water. As she reached the rocky edge her eyes scanned for Cole, finding him on the other side. Before she could shout to him, Ethan's voice exploded with nothing but her name.

As she turned towards the sound she felt dull acceptance rather than fear. The forest filled with Cole's bellowing plea.

"NO!"

And the sun was shining.


	22. Taking Back

**Ethan**

Car horns may have been blaring, rain falling, and smog pumping, but Ethan felt light as he headed towards Hell's Kitchen Saturday morning.

There were few things better than spending a vacation watching your oldest friend fall in love. Especially when for Cole it was for the first time. For the last week Ethan bared witness to his usually quietly content pal becoming steadily more and more elated. His steps quickened as if it would pass the time between seeing her again sooner. His smile came easier. He didn't use the word love but it was all over him like a mist. And Ethan decided it was his favorite view.

That wasn't to say he didn't have concerns. His own love story didn't have a happy ending, nor had Jenna's. Far from it. It was a pain he didn't want for Cole, and in his darkest moments he wondered if it was a curse the three of them shared. So when Cole had gone single most of his twenties, Ethan didn't think much of it. In some ways he was jealous of that innocence. The phrase better to have loved and lost didn't ring true to Ethan. Likely because in his mind the love wasn't past tense. No, it would never be that. He was in love with one, and would be all his life. There wouldn't be another. He knew Jenna also felt she was done in regards to love, though for different reasons.

It was a conversation he and Jenna had the night before Cole came to tell them of Gilly's writing idea. Certainly both of their stories would come up at a point because they had intertwined with the three of them, so it had been on their minds. Talking about it had been a change as usually they both preferred to not have it at the forefront. Even if they accepted that pain was always there in the background. Waiting.

During their talk they decided the hardest part of telling their stories would be facing the stance they so often had with family. Not understanding, not hearing. It was never a concern with Cole, but he knew even his own parents looked at him a bit indulgently when he answered their relationship inquiries with his belief that no one else was out there for him. He knew when Jenna said she was single because she was through with that chapter of her life it was usually met with a "you're still young." It was difficult for most people to look past their age. Worse yet they sometimes used it as a reason they needed to be in relationships. "What a waste" He knew got Jenna angrier quicker than anything.

It wasn't as through he didn't date. Ethan knew himself enough to know he preferred the company of people, and sometimes that company was women. He was always upfront about his desire to keep things casual rather than pursue a relationship, and for the most part it worked for him. Just as he knew being on her own worked for Jenna. He just hoped they could find another ally, especially when the source was someone falling for Cole.

It had him reminiscing, which was likely why he'd asked Gilly if they could meet. Being steeped in memories was as good a time as any to share them. Since Cole was shooting a wedding and Gilly didn't need to be to work until seven, it worked for all. If Cole was curious when Ethan told him he was spending the day with Gilly, he didn't voice it. They rarely had to after this long.

As he reached Gilly's building, he saw her hold the door open. Her blonde hair was shades lighter than his own, and piled high on her head. Her eyes were also blue like his, and again shades lighter. Was it the similar appearance that had them clicking as though they were siblings? No, he thought as his smile genuinely formed at the sight of her. It was deeper than that, the connection. Taking him back to other times they'd been close to being more than three, Ethan pushed that aside, letting himself be happy in the moment.

"You didn't have to meet me down here." He called to her.

"I didn't want you waiting in the rain, but it seems you didn't mind enough to bring an umbrella."

"Never had one of those. Might wear a hat if it gets real, but this?" He held up a damp hand as he jogged up the stairs. "Childs play."

"Can take the boy out of the PNW…." Gilly grinned and reached out to pull him indoors. "This is a great surprise!"

"I'm glad, then I don't have to feel guilty for stealing time from you and Michael Buble."

"One, as if you'd feel guilty. Two, I can see him any old time, you leave next week. And three, he's working today."

"You're right on two of those, but we both know the way you two have been going this week you probably coulda gone to the wedding with him." He grinned as they reached her apartment and she swatted at him.

"Precisely why it's good to have a chill day. Want anything?" She gestured to the kitchen. "Theres….well, water."

"All good. We're ordering in later." He shrugged out of his damp hoodie and put it on a peg by the door. "Don't give me that look, neither of us cook so it's simpler. My thank you for the hang out."

"Mhm." She joined him on the couch where he plopped. "So what else is this hang out about Ethan? Going to ask my intentions?" She wiggled her brows, leaning into the arm of the couch on the opposite side.

"Not just yet." Ethan sighed. I know you two are taking a breather from the story idea."

"We are."

Her voice trailing off as it did had Ethan nodding as he stretched his legs towards the coffee table. "You're second guessing it."

"I said nothing like that."

"You didn't count on being in it."

Now her smile faded as she shook her head.

"Is that a no to you didn't count on it, or convincing yourself you're not in it at all?" When she said nothing, Ethan pressed. "Why did you want to write about us at first? I've heard his side, but I want to hear the writer's perspective."

"At first it was simple. PIN had been releasing a series on dating apps, I was so sick of hearing how…I don't know, cold. How cold it's become, and crass. I vented that to Cole and said something about how this is what you hear about you don't hear the soulmate stories anymore. And he said he had met his."

Ethan smiled. "And imagine the curiousness of him having more than one, and neither are romantic."

"Exactly. It was odd, but the way you people talk about each other….." She half laughed as her hand gestured a shrug. "It draws you in, makes you listen and believe. I wanted to be a part of that telling. Maybe it was over ambitious but I thought I could tell it well enough that if someone else needed to feel a friendship and love like that they could. I still want that."

"Then why are you scared of wanting to be in it?"

Her eyes met his and what he saw there had him wishing the words back.

"I came here because like you said, I'm leaving next week and I wouldn't mind getting to know you one on one. And because I wanted to convince you to keep on writing it. I have stories of my own to share."

Gilly's eyes wandered around the room a moment before she answered. "I wonder if many other childhood friendships would be looking for one on one time with someone their friend had been dating such a short time."

"Probably not but like you said, we're odd. Plus you just told me all I'll ever need to know."

"How's that?"

"You're wondering about how I see you as the person who is dating my friend, not why I'm interested in what you're writing." Ethan laughed as Gilly face palmed. "Ohhhhh what a first date changes."

"Shut up." Gilly kicked out before curling her legs under her. "Fine. I take it back. The story it is then. Purely professional. What stories is it you wanted to share?"

"Ones that I don't see Cole telling you, and not for their lack of importance. He'd hesitate for Jenna and I. Which I get, since I'm figuring if I tell you certain stories then Jenna and Cole won't have to." He shrugged. "We're a vicious circle."

"I think it's sweet how you know each other. And I prefer having all of your points of view, even if you're only telling me because you think it spares them."

"That's not the only reason I'm telling you."

"What's the other?"

After a moment Ethan let out his breath. "It hasn't always been the three of us."

Gilly nodded. "No, I imagined not."

"There's been four. At one point there were five." Ethan didn't have to close his eyes to picture it. They were always there. He looked back at Gilly. She made no move to get a laptop or notepad. While he came there to add to the story he appreciated the idea of keeping it as friends talking. Gilly smiled at him, and instantly reminded Ethan of Jenna. His shoulders sunk back into the cushions as he went on. "The three of us are a unit. I think Cole likens us to soul mates because he sees us as one person just split up. He keeps an iron grip on that idea that it's the three of us. That's not to say when those other people came around he didn't accept them. He wanted Jenna and I to find that but I think for the longest time he…."

"He hoards." Gilly offered. "He told me that when we first started. He felt like he hoarded his memories of you two and he didn't want to do that anymore."

Ethan let out a laughing breath. "That's about right. Cole's always been hesitant about the idea that there could be more. Until now that is." He watched Gilly's expression take on a mix of happiness and anxiety at the thought. "That would be the other reason. I hope to spare them some of the telling sure, but also want you to understand why Cole was apprehensive. Why probably we all are now."

He watched her think about it. Curiosity battling her own apprehensions. He knew which one would win and grinned as she looked back at him.

"I'm forced to agree with Cole that the three of you might be splits of the same whole." She rose and walked to the kitchen, speaking as she went. "People don't ordinarily want to tell me life stories."

"Glad to hear it. Makes it easier to hoard you." He caught the water bottle before it connected with his face. Her glare as she sat back down did nothing to dull his mood as he reached for her hand. "Gilly he's never been like this. I'm going to poke fun. I'm going to worry. But mostly I'm as stupid happy as he is."

She sighed and squeezed back. "I haven't had what you three grew up with. I've always wanted a close friend. It's safe to say I dreamed of that over a relationship even. Maybe I don't believe one can last but I believe a true friendship can. And I want that." Her voice broke just a little. Enough to have her pressing her lips together a moment.

Understanding the fear Ethan nodded. "That's normal. Trouble is, we aren't normal. No one really is, but this." He circled a finger in the air. "We never have been, and now you're on the edge of being a part of that. It's normal to be wigged. Maybe that's why it's good you two started this how you did. It's a better way for you to know the weird before you decide whether you're running headlong into it or away from it."

Gilly's expression toughened. "And what if I'm running into it only because it's something I've always wanted?"

"You're not." Ethan patted her hand before reclining back at ease.

"And how do you know?" Her temper flared as she swung her legs out. Definitely irritated, but still a half assed kick. "God you're annoying." Now she laughed. "Again, I take it all back. I don't want any friends, we'll just be professional."

"Cole." He said and then pointed. "That's how I know you're not. Not all clichés are true but one I fully believe in is the power of names. I hear some I relax. Some I tense. But there's only one that I hear and probably feel every emotion there is. And I know she's the only one there will ever be like that."

"That should be beautiful." Gilly tucked her legs back a bit and rested her arms around her up drawn knees. "That kind of certainty. It's a curse though isn't it?"

Ethan knew then. He felt the shift as if a cable attached between them. It hadn't always been just the three, and now they were four again. But he knew it wasn't the time to mention it. He wasn't the one who needed to tell her. So instead he nodded and took a breath.

"We met her junior year. Cole's parents had passed the spring before. It was the hardest thing we'd had to face at that point. And she became the thing that brought us back. Falling in love with her was easier than breathing. Being with her was too."

"What's her name?" Gilly reached for his hand this time.

Ethan acknowledged the pain that was always there, as the smile that couldn't be helped followed as he took them back.

"Summer."


	23. Bothered

**Then**

Ordinarily, Forks High School had a reputation for being rather dull. It was a small blip in a small town, in a state that rarely kicked up much of a fuss, and was therefore also considered dull. And ordinarily, the inhabitants might think that unfortunate. They had vast beautiful forests, the pace was slower than a city where people rarely appreciated the things they were fortunate to have. So to hear they were considered dull or not considered at all, used to be a sore point. Yet in the last year, the town and cities surrounding it were considered something far far worse than dull.

Dangerous.

In that time those vast forests were not sought out. The relaxed streets were seldom traveled. Indoor activities, once frowned upon, were suddenly seen as the only way to pass time. For posters warned of animal attacks in the beloved woods and mountains. Gossip fueled of teenagers gathering in odd clusters. And worse, the news stations reported murders in the surrounding cities. All at once these dangers flooded the state of Washington more frequently than the rain.

So when the hush of fall also brought a hush to the troubles, the town of Forks collectively breathed a sigh of gratitude at the return of dull and ordinary. Even on the bus ride to the middle and high schools, the teens might have whispered still, but those whispers were also relieved.

On that bus, Summer St. John would have heard those whispers, if she hadn't been floating. Her freckled face beamed with a smile all for herself as it tipped towards the window. At sixteen she was tall for her age and leggy, wearing her long dark brown hair down her back. She may have felt a little dressed up as she looked around the bus, but today was too special to Summer for her not to dress to match.

She had lived in Forks for a year, but this was the first time she was going to school. Or at least in a long while. Her mother was a nurse in the military, and when she started her tours, Summer's father elected to homeschool rather than have her bounce from school to school. It had become habit enough that even when they settled in Forks, Summer stayed home. But now her parents believed she needed to branch out, and it wasn't until that bus ride that Summer felt so too. She'd been in fifth grade the last time she'd been in school, and she knew plenty changed since then. It didn't bother her in the least.

As Ethan turned his car past the school bus and towards Main, he felt bothered. Looking over at Cole, who was absently tugging a loose thread from his backpack, Ethan knew that was on Cole's behalf. He'd finished their sophomore year at Ethan's house, having a tutor come in and taking his tests online. Frankly all of them still worried about him going back for the first time since his parent's deaths last spring. But Cole said he needed to, and these days what Cole needed came first in all their books.

Once parked, Ethan rolled his eyes as he saw Jenna Anne climbing down one of the staircases that clung to the side of the hotel, ducking anytime she passed a window. She wore a low ponytail with that mass of brown waves tucked to the side over her shoulder. Ethan suspected so she wouldn't be as easy to spot.

"Sounds about right." Cole observed as he spotted her as well. "Think she'll make it?"

Automatically checking the front for signs of a bursting Philip, Ethan nodded. "This year, probably. But next? First day of senior year, he won't let her leave without a performance."

"He'll probably take her himself." Cole snorted as Jenna slid down the final banister and dashed towards the car.

Ethan got out of the driver's seat and wordlessly tossed her the keys before getting into the back. His parent's had gotten the car on his sixteenth birthday but the understanding was the three of them got use of it. In a town as small as theirs, they rarely needed a car, but he suspected it was their way of keeping them from traveling alone as much as possible. With the added perk of the adults not having to transport them. He had hoped Cole would want to drive them in on their first day, but as he had the least practice being a year younger and only holding a permit, he showed a bit of a dislike for driving. Admittedly Jenna was the best at it, though Ethan and Cole had a bet that she'd be the first to get a speeding ticket.

For now she eased out of the side lot, still not speaking until they were clear of the building.

"So close." She let her head fall back against the seat. "Brance saw me for sure, but he'd never snitch. Least not to Papa. But a guest who's trying to seduce him was drying her curtains just as I was diving past."

"Trying to seduce Brance, or Philip? Either way I'm disturbed." Ethan lounged in the backseat.

"Philip. She just checked in, I think she's under the impression he's the director at the theatre."

'Probably because he let her."

"Most definitely. She's not seen thirty yet so I'm interested on how she imagines this plays out."

"He's staring at eighty!" Cole shook his head. "Man, even Ethan will probably retire by then."

"Don't count on it." Jenna grinned in the rearview when Ethan kicked her chair. "Marigold will step on that seed before it takes root anyways."

As she rounded the hillside into the schools lot, Jenna disregarded the brakes and with a wheel spin managed to whip the car around a startled pack of seniors, turn into a 180, and park without having to do the hand over the back of the passenger seat move. As one of the seniors clapped, she did a shoulder shimmy. "That ought to get me a date."

The boys rolled their eyes as they all got out, taking a few minutes to do what most of the upperclassmen tended to, and hang out by the cars. They made a handsome group. Ethan waved or called out whenever his various football or cheerleader friends arrived. His hair appeared carelessly tousled and took him a few minutes of mirror time to achieve. He's started a stubble look that the girls were already noticing. They also appeared to be noticing how Cole had shot up a few inches over the summer. At sixteen, you could still tell he was a year behind but the contrast of his sharp eyes and slow smile never failed him. And while Jenna joked, she tended to be unobservant when it came to boys noticing her. While her face remained cherub like with round cheeks and her big grey eyes, her body was a full grown woman's, and a built one at that. She may have preferred baggy torn jeans and a loose tee, but the radar of teenage boys still zeroed in on the curves. It wasn't just their looks that drew eyes as the three of them lingered by the car. In seven years they'd never wavered or had a falling out. Arguments were normal but never left lasting damage. To the teenagers of their class it was a foreign thing to witness, and an opportunity to throw in snide remarks.

Yet, they were just kids then. The innocent air their age gave off was still there, though hindered by last year. Collectively they were putting in an effort to keep their days light.

In that spirit, at a jerk of Ethan's head Jenna laughed and tossed Cole the keys as she pushed off the car.

"No. C'mon."

"Practice is necessary my guy." Ethan clapped him on the back and together they walked towards the building.

In the time before first period most of the school was gossiping but luckily not about the previous year. Instead the news was of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen's marriage the month prior. Not many students got hitched right after graduation these days, so it had caused the gossip mill to pump a bit louder. Especially given their closeness with the Quileute's over at La Push. Specifically a group of teens the town liked to label a cult. Being two years their senior; Ethan, Jenna, and Cole hadn't given the Cullen's much thought, but the topic was welcome after all the bad news they'd gotten used to.

And even more welcome was the sight Ethan caught as they passed the main office. Standing in the corner was a girl he guessed to be their age, looking serene as she flipped through what he recognized as a map of their small school. New student, he had thought and couldn't help but smile at her as the others paused to try and fix Cole's rusted combination lock. At the time he thought the smile was from his appreciation of the way her yellow dress whispered against her knees, or how her hair looked like velvet. Later he could acknowledge the pull he felt in her direction. How the smile felt like an aha and a gut punch all in one. How his skin got hot when she looked up, and smiled right back.

At first Summer's smile was an automatic greeting to match the one she caught aimed at her. As she took in the dark jeans and dark tshirt and frank appraisal she wondered if this was the class bad boy. Judging by his company, she determined not. After a few seconds though she knew she was smiling out of more than friendliness. The heat of it might have bothered her as the morning bell hadn't even rung, but she was too surprised to worry. And wasn't that the damndest thing, Summer thought as she turned her attention back to her map and class schedule.

"This damned thing." Cole finally got it open and noticed Ethan. "What are we looking at?"

"Ooooooooo…..barracuda." Jenna sang as she caught what held Ethan's gaze.

"Can't blame a guy for looking." But he knew when to stop before the others teased him dry.

"If you stop at looking I will start going to church." Jenna hip bumped him.

Ethan caught himself a moment before retorting as he saw Jenna stiffen when they turned towards their lockers. She hadn't looked at him, but Ethan knew just as Cole would that it was from the boy leaning against his locker on the other side of the hall.

He stood two inches taller than Ethan's proud six feet, and looked like he spent most of the summer in the weight room. His usual band of friends stood with him in a loose circle, none moving towards classes. The quip died on Ethan's tongue as he saw Jenna hesitate a moment before she reached up to tighten her hair tie and swing over to their row. Ethan met Cole's worried eyes and shook his head.

"What's our first class together? Cole asked though he would have already known.

"You have Chem with Fabio here don't you?" Jenna smiled at a passing freshman girl that goggled at Ethan and Cole. "Poor babies." She murmured.

"And I have History with Shine." Ethan nodded as he slipped his combination lock on his locker. "The three of us have Gym, which will be interesting."

"That's right, when's the last time we had Gym together?" Jenna turned her back against her locker after closing it with a laugh.

"I think I was wearing a Space Jam tshirt." Cole checked his watch. "I'm going to head over."

"Brainiac has to brain." Jenna ran a hand down his arm. "I'm sure I'll wander around at some point so give me a signal if I'm needed."

"First day and she's going to skip her Math class I bet." Cole rolled his eyes. "See you in Chem." He said to Ethan and walked off.

"Think he's ok?" She looked up at Ethan.

"Seems it. He can't get away with much, so I'm sure we'll notice. You don't have to go wandering you know."

"I can't just sit in seven classrooms all day either. Consider it my version of the Juette Gypsy Feet."

"Then why don't you use them to walk down that hall." Ethan jerked his chin towards where Jenna refused to look.

"What for? Ferris O'Brien doesn't know who I am or care to." Her voice on his name had the same vibe as running her hand over Cole's arm.

"You could try."

"Kelly."

Her tone clipped in a way that never deterred Ethan from an argument, but her eyes didn't match it. And they're what Ethan listened to. "Fine, then go break the heart of Aaron Galser, he's been staring at you for three minutes straight."

"At me or the assets?"

"Does it matter?"

She once again bumped hips with Ethan before adding some jaunt in her steps through the passing crowd. Only Ethan saw how Ferris waited until she had turned to look over at her, his easy smile fading as his shoulders lowered with his breath. Before anyone else could catch it he turned his attention back towards his friends, a mask back in place.

Ethan cast his eyes to the ceiling in frustration once before turning towards his own class. First period French was his easy ace since Jenna had been teaching them since middle school, but the class got a lot less boring when he saw the girl in the yellow dress sitting in a middle seat. His smile came back as he sauntered over and slid into the desk in front of hers. After dropping his backpack he draped one arm around the back of his seat as he leaned his back against the bar that attached the chair to the desk.

"Hi, you're new here aren't you?"

"Open to interpretation." Her eyes narrowed the slightest bit when she smiled. As if they knew the look lit up her entire face. "I'm Summer St. John, former homeschool-e. You're Ethan Kelly right? I've met your mother."

"Everyone has somehow. Happy to meet you Summer. " Though he usually wasn't formal, Ethan reached out a hand for the excuse to hold hers. He may have expected a zap of heat from the touch of a pretty girl but he wasn't ready for how the contact made him want to haul her closer.

"Well." Summer's smile turned to a grin as she took back her hand. "Hello Ethan."

"Do you know anyone here?"

"In our grade? Not really. We moved here when all those animal attacks were happening so I haven't been out as much. Just to the diner or the theatre sometimes."

"The Grand? You may know Jenna Anne then, she's one of my best friends."

"Of the big hair." Summer nodded. "Who was the other you were with this morning?"

"Cole Masen." When Summer's smile saddened Ethan fought the sigh. Everyone would know of course.

"Well I haven't met Jenna Anne formally but I've seen her scurrying around a time or two there. She seems like a sweet girl."

"Have lunch with me." Ethan nearly coughed at his own outburst. He was usually much smoother about this. "I mean, since you don't know any…hah." As the bell rang he pointed to it. "Saved." After facing forward Ethan lectured himself as he cast his eyes to the ceiling.

Summer hid her laughing smile in her hand as other students rushed in ahead of a tiny woman moving faster than safety allowed in high heels. She was already speaking French with rapid English translation following. Making sure she was properly camouflaged Summer tore a corner of paper out of her binder and giddily scrawled a quick message, thrilled at the opportunity to do a thing she saw so many teens do in movies. However her delivery didn't match the covertness of the movie scenes as she tossed her note over Ethan's shoulder. The paper nearly fell off the front of desk so he had to slap a hand to keep it in place, the sound disrupting the small classroom.

Now Summer had to faceplant into the crook of her arm to stifle the snorting laugh that nearly bubbled out. Ethan's shoulders shook from holding in his own. Under the teachers glare he kept his expression blank. Once she'd turned back to handing out textbooks, Ethan unfolded the paper.

_I'll see you then._

Ethan felt his cheeks rise and turned his head slightly, only to have her kick his chair in a warning a second too late as Ms. Fenlin slapped a book down on his desk. For the rest of his class he kept his attention on verb usage.

By the end of class two of the girls sitting in their row had shanghaied Summer to get the scoop on the new girl and see if she needed showing around. Ethan didn't catch sight of Jenna in the halls, but he and Cole were free from third period Chem, he told him about Summer. Cole showed no surprise until Ethan said he'd asked her to lunch and was thinking Cole and Jenna should join.

"Been a while since we've attempted that."

Ethan shrugged. "We haven't had a new student in our grade in a while."

"The grapevine is already buzzing that she's been homeschooled til now." Cole smirked. "Not your usual brand."

"A pretty girl is a pretty girl my friend. But if she's been cooped up in homeschooling maybe she needs friends."

Now Cole stopped so they shuffled off to the side of the hall. "Not your usual thought process. Who are you?"

"Shove it." Ethan moved back towards his next class. "Fine then, I'll round up some of my merry band of populars as you two call them. Summer and I will have lunch with them and she'll have a circle by the end of the week."

"It'll statistically improve your chances with her." Cole grinned and went in the opposite direction.

Two periods later Ethan didn't include his other jock friends in lunch, but did sit at the far end of their table so they wouldn't be separate from that crowd. He noticed Jenna glide out the door to the courtyard and knew she'd sneak her way down to the stream for the break. Cole was tucked in a corner with some of the yearbook committee. When Summer roamed over, he saw nothing else.

"School lunches got better since the last time I had one." She slid to the bench and looked around with a happy sigh. "Though there's a lot less students to feed here than in my last school.

"That's a perk I've never thought about. How have your classes been so far?"

"I don't think much of Econ."

"I wouldn't understand you if you did." He cut the brownie that came with his lunch in half and passed it to her. "You finding your way alright? I didn't think of that until after the Ashley's swiped you."

"They were characters for sure. Actually I did get turned around after fourth period, but someone in my class helped out. You grow them nice here."

"For the most part. Could be because we value eccentrics."

"I am not."

"Homeschooled."

"It's the 2000's, being homeschooled isn't eccentric anymore."

"Of course not, but word has it you were homeschooled because you've moved all the time. Gypsy's are eccentric, ask Jenna."

"She's an eccentric expert?"

"She's a gypsy."

"Ah." Summer gestured with her juice bottle. "Where are they anyways?"

Ethan jerked his chin. "Cole's over there with his photo nerds and Jenna is creekside."

"Creekside? You can go outside for lunch?!" Summer looked out at the open doors.

"Well yeah." Ethan grinned at her excitement. "Not many do, if they leave it's the seniors hitting the diner."

"I'll have to remember that for tomorrow."

"Bored of me already?"

"I suspect you'll follow."

"And if it's raining?"

"Ohhhh." Summer waved her hands. "I'm not falling for that PNW trick."

"Just wondering how much the year here has taught you."

For the rest of the period they talked about their families and interests. Her laugh was as quick as his, though soon he'd cut his short to hear the sound of hers. He'd been attracted to many girls and dated his fair share. But this was a new experience. He didn't think of his next move or a flirting strategy. There was just her. The sharp mind and humor that struck a chord with his. How her eyes, caught between an amber brown and a dark green, traced over his face. The curtain of her hair falling forward when she gestured. The way her voice had a husky quality. All the pieces he was meeting seemed to fill him. And he wasn't bothered one bit.

**Now**

Ethan broke off and shook his head. "I'm not telling this right."

"I beg to differ." Gilly let out a shakey breath. "I've never been one to believe in teen romances but that one is off to a convincing start."

"Hah." Ethan ran a hand through his hair. "Well that was never our problem. Being together was as easy as breathing for us. We just flowed along." Ethan's hand came down to run a line on the back of the couch.

"So you believe in soul mates, I know that. Love at first sight?"

"What is it Cole told you? He believed in things he's seen. I guess I'm the same, and I've seen love at first sight so, yes. But it wasn't for me, and it wasn't for Summer. Our love was there waiting but we didn't see it off the bat."

Gilly curled up again. "Then it was Jenna."

"That's why I'm not telling this right. Maybe I want to get my part over but my part can't really begin without hers. Jenna knew Ferris before I knew Summer. Hell she knew Ferris before she knew Cole or I."

"Ferris? The boy you mentioned? She said he didn't know her."

"At that point she didn't know." Ethan stopped, his jaw tight. "She didn't know he remembered her. She didn't know that for a long while."


	24. Flight of the Stellers Jay

**Then**

Few places in Forks were as welcoming a sight as the Olympic Grand. Walking in from the ever present rain, the guests were treated to buttery yellow walls and pale blue ceilings. Green oriental carpets scattered throughout the golden brown wood floors, bringing a sunny day in the woods indoors. The weariness of travel stood no chance against the bright reception of the town's hotel. Though every once in a while, some managed to combat the appeal of a stay. Marigold Fielding took one look at the young boy currently shuffling in behind his parents, and new he would be one of them.

Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien of Los Angeles came to the desk with frozen sorts of smiles. As they gave their reservation information, Marigold kept her face from sneering with the control of someone in customer service a long while. She listened as they explained that for their two week stay they would be settling the affairs of the Mrs.' parents who had passed, while also taking in Seattle. It was also explained that none of those activities would be suitable for a child, so they would be leaving him at the hotel. During the inquiry for the hotels au pair services, (Marigold promptly took a sip of her water rather than snort) neither looked at nor touched the son behind them. And Marigold could plainly see he expected no different. So she told the O'Brien's their son would be cared for by the Olympic Grand's best.

Not waiting to meet who would be caring for their son, or even seeing their room, the O'Brien's eagerly gave their luggage to Brance and pocketed their copy of the room key before turning tail. Marigold held her smile, though it warmed a few degrees as she looked down at the boy. His hair was a dark mop, a bit longer than the average bowl cut. His clothes more akin to Sunday church than a summer vacation. He checked his watch much like a businessman. She liked him immediately.

"I'm Ms. Fielding."

However apparent his disinterest, manners took precedence and the boy reached out a hand. "Ferris." He said in a clear, but sad voice.

"And how old are you Ferris?"

"Eight."

"Well that's perfect for what I have in mind. Why don't you follow Brance here to your rooms and he'll show you back down to the kitchens. I'll see you there."

As Ferris followed his luggage to the single elevator, Marigolds heels clicked as she made her way through the lobby and back towards the inn keeper's quarters. Stopping in what they considered the guest kitchen she looked around and not finding what she was looking for, walked through to the cook muttering at various bowls of dough in the hotel kitchen.

"The two weekers are here Enid. I don't expect you'll be feeding them much but their son will be in need."

Enid turned sharply, eyes narrowed. "Where's the boy? A teenager?"

"Thank Jesus, no." Marigolds smile turned sharp. "An eight year old."

Enid's answering curses and growls perked up Marigolds steps as she turned towards the mudroom and the back patio. With a sigh she watched as another eight year old was busy weeding a flower bed despite the misting swirl of rain. Her wild hair was contained under the denim baseball style hat Marigold herself had sewn a golden sun into. She chatted to the blossoms as you would an old friend.

"Jenna Anne." She called from under the awning. "What is it you think Mr. Gibbons will say when he hears you were fooling with his pansies?"

"That it would be the petunias that need the attention in all this wet." She mimicked the hotel gardener's brogue perfectly. She looked to the sky. "I didn't miss supper again did I?" Her own southern cadence returned.

"No, but I have a project for you. We have new guests. A family, but it's their son who will be with us mostly."

"You want me to keep him out of trouble?"

"Actually I wouldn't mind if you helped him find some." As the child's eyes widened Marigold held up a hand. "Don't get too excited. Heaven knows Phillip will be no help posting your bail. But my guess is this boy has had a different sort of life than you, it wouldn't hurt for you to show him something new. It's the end of your summer vacation after all."

Jenna pushed to her feet. "I can do that."

"There's plenty of afternoon left, if you want to show him around town." Marigold opened the door and laying a hand on Jenna's shoulder, steered her inside.

Already waiting with Ferris, Brance lowered his head slightly as Marigold came into the guest kitchen and left to his usual post. She smiled at Ferris and gestured to Jenna.

"Ferris, this is Jenna Anne, she'll be your au pair when you're here."

Ferris glanced from Marigold to the girl he guessed at his age and nearly laughed. "But she's a kid."

"We're not certain of that, the testing was inconclusive. You two be back for supper now." She looked back to Jenna before leaving. "Remember if you get him on the right foot with Enid, she may give you a reprieve from the milk and eggs medley."

Ferris looked uncertainly at Jenna, and she at him. She had seen sadness, and experienced too much of it herself for her age. This made her more prone to recognize it, but still. The type she saw in the brown eyes staring back at her nearly had her reaching for his hand in comfort. Her ideas for mischief were quickly replaced with ones providing any sort of fun she could think of. Unsure of her footing, she smiled at him.

He coughed a little. "So you have two first names?"

"Sort of. Anne is my middle name but southern people tend to use both. Marigold knows it."

Traveled as he was, Ferris had never heard someone his age talk in a somewhat southern, somewhat musical voice. He had to fight to keep a disinterested distance. "Marigold?"

The razz in his tone had Jenna's back up. "Ferris Wheel?" She taunted as she placed her fists on her hips.

Ferris blinked once, and though he'd heard the teasing name often enough he still felt his face break out in a smile as he laughed. Jenna nodded as though he had answered a question correctly in class, and motioned for the door she came through. And then stopped as she saw his shoes.

"Those are expensive. You can't wear those."

"I only have these sneakers with me. I can play in them."

"Maybe where you're from, but here you'll muddy them right up. If we're going to get in trouble it's not gonna be over shoes. C'mon." She took his hand and raced with him towards the lobby. Turning at a corridor, she opened a door revealing a supply closet of sorts. "Lost and found. I think it was last year a ten year old came through and…."

"Last year? Do you live here?"

"Sometimes. Papa and I travel a lot but mostly…..got em!" Jenna produced a pair of beat up LL Bean boots. "Your feet are on the bigger side, I think these'll work."

As Ferris took off his high tops Jenna grabbed them and dashed around a corner. He heard her ask Brance to bring them up to the room, followed by some bickering too low for him to hear the words.

"Good grief. You lose track of time once and everyone thinks I'll accidently sleep out there. Bananas. They fit?" She gestured to the boots.

"Yeah. Good eye. Look, my folks drop me at hotels all the time. I have my Gameboy with me, you really don't have to…"

"They usually pass you off on other grown ups these parents right?" Jenna crossed her arms.

"Yeah, they thought they were this time too."

"Well I'm what's here. Save the Gameboy for the next time you're stuck with an oh pair, whatever that is."

"It's like a nanny."

"Rich people." Jenna shrugged. "We can always go through the hotel tour if the weather gets bad, so let's start with outside. We're only allowed to stay on Main Street, townwise." As they stepped out Jenna gestured down the road. "There's enough stops that it's a good time, and the ice cream parlor down there is our best bet. But it's too close to supper, Enid would flip her lid."

"Enid?"

"The cook. You know if you're average size for your age?"

"I'm tall." Ferris shrugged.

"Good. She shouldn't hound you like she does me then." Jenna led the way to the back of the hotel and opened the fence leading to the lot the hotel and theatre shared. "Have you been to Washington before?"

"No. My grandparents lived here but we never visited."

"Then this is definitely where we start. There's only a thin bit of woods behind here since we're right on main, but it's enough to get the idea."

There was a slight hill behind the lot that they trotted down. The trees they headed towards were thick with green. Despite there not being sun, all that green created its own light so that Ferris had no problem seeing the bounty around him. Two feet into the trees, he no longer felt the swirling rain. He could no longer smell the cars or diner, but instead the dirt and bark. The ferns tipped towards them as Jenna walked on a few more feet, and raising her arms did a half spin.

"There's nothing like it." She smiled as she tipped her face up. "I've been all around but Washington forests are magic."

As Ferris had also been all around, he would have doubted that before he'd seen. Now he was almost dizzy, looking everywhere. At a flash of color he turned to follow the flight of a blue bird. He didn't notice the chuckle that escaped as he watched the bird perch on a low branch.

"A Stellers Jay!" Jenna whispered as she stared too. "They're usually up mountain Papa says. But he makes things up sometimes."

"My dad probably couldn't name a bird."

"He's not my dad, he's my mom's. So twice the dad smarts." Jenna walked closer with her eyes still on the bird. "I've never seen one, and neither have you. That's lucky."

Ferris smiled and with a laughing jolt grabbed Jenna's hand when the bird flew over and fluttered in a circle around them before soaring up. He craned his neck as the bird rose for the impossible tree tops. Jenna whooped and with his hand still in hers, took off running as though they could follow that stellers jay. Later that night he would think of how he'd never smiled that much with a girl. Later in his life he would realize he had never smiled that much in the eight years before meeting her.

For Jenna, a piece of her seemed to wake more and more as the two weeks with Ferris passed. She'd once been so contented with only having herself and her imagination for company. It turned out having someone her age to connect with went beyond what her imagination had conjured before then. In those two weeks she and Ferris ran tame, the little girl who never allowed herself to dream of a lifelong friend, now wondered at how naturally he became woven in her every day.

He'd get up as early as she, and find her in the garden or kitchens. By the end of the first week he was bold enough to go looking in the theatre, but it never took him long to find her spots. They argued about baseball, laughed when he butchered the Creole she'd try and teach. Late at night, she'd sneak up to the guest's wing to wait for him, and together they'd creep to her secret spot in the theatre, watching a late rehearsal or show. In those hours they spoke of things no one else had heard.

Ferris told her of his parents, of how they led their own life, with him barely tagging along. How he had more fights in school than friends, and the friends he did have were his nannys. He may have wanted for nothing material, but did for everything else. Jenna would listen, comfort, and generally make him feel lighter. For the first time he was both heard and encouraged to be heard. And when she'd tell him of her jumping around the south with her mother, and then the country with Phillip, of her quiet wish for a home, his face would grow hotter than it did when his parents were disinterested. She seemed so tired sometimes that he wanted to stay to be sure she was ok. Those were the quiet moments, where they were still under their own bubble. Safe in knowing they only had so much time to enjoy having someone to fill the silence.

While their lack of supervision became something to be enjoyed too, for Ferris he learned his first sense of family, untraditional as it was.

He had chess matches with Phillip, and cooking lessons with Enid. He maned the front desk with Jenna while Marigold watched, hiding a smirk. He got more than a sentence from Brance. Above all, he fit. For two children who never quite managed it before, they were now having to imagine returning to how it had been.

On his last day, Ferris managed to keep his blue thoughts to himself as Jenna trailed her hand along a fence down Main. They'd just finished lunch at the diner, a free meal in exchange for painting their back door. As she tipped her face towards him he didn't have to fake the smile.

"School's next week, so you only have to deal with them a little bit."

"I'm not worried about it. You going to ask Mr. Juette if you can stay at the hotel when he travels?"

Jenna crossed her eyes at him. He kicked her shoe. They walked on, the tops of their arms bumping. As they reached the Grand, Ferris saw the black car pulled up front and felt like he swallowed a golf ball. Determined, Jenna put a finger to her lips and pointed at the stairs hugging the side of the building. Dashing for them, they didn't notice Brance straighten from putting luggage in the trunk, face tight as he watched the children sneaking upstairs.

Ferris held open a hall window on the second floor for Jenna to climb in. As he crept in after her she listened over the banister. Hearing his parents speaking with Marigold, he reached into his pocket.

"Here."

Jenna looked over her shoulder and her shoulders slumped as she looked at the picture he held out.

"Marigold gave me a few pictures she took so I could remember but I think you should hold on to this one."

"I should have thought of that. Did she take any of the forest for you?"

"Yeah, it's in the pile." He heard heels clicking and recognized his mother's impatience pace. "I should get down there. If they have to holler for me the drive is going to be worse."

"I'm going to write to you. Every week." Jenna kept her smile in place as she insisted. "And you write back when you can." She looked back towards the stairs. "Maybe they liked it here, and they'll bring you back."

"Maybe." Ferris felt his grip on his blue thoughts slip as Jenna stood.

"I'll stay up here, Marigold can fuss over if you have everything." She moved over to the window. Ferris hesitated as he stood too, wanting to hug his friend but also keep it cool.

Jenna decided that for them and turned back to lean her head into his chest, making it an easy move for Ferris to wrap his arms around her. His eyes closed when he felt her hands gentle on the back of his shoulders. He thought he heard the sound of her breath catching, and tipped her back, but her face remained bright. So he nodded and squeezing her shoulder once, left for the stairs. He looked back once to see her already perched at the window.

Once he reached the lobby Marigold did in fact ask if he had everything, and this time he noticed how her voice and face changed when she spoke with his parents. It eased the tightness in his throat, just as her hand down his arm soothed. Then his mother sailed after Dad, neither looking back to make sure he followed. And of course he just did. Two weeks hadn't changed that much.

The dread didn't fall completely as they made their way to the car. Ferris even managed to smile as he heard Brance call him Mr. O'Brien. It wasn't until he got in the car, and that door closed that he felt the trickle of unease. The two weeks of being seen and heard were already feeling far. As if reaching for them, he looked back at the windows and she was there. The first real friend he'd had. Smiling as her head leaned on the side of the sill. Waving as though he'd be back the next afternoon. As he looked away, he never saw how her fingertips touched the glass, as if to touch the side of his face.

His parents said nothing as they pulled into the road. He heard his father say he was relieved they'd closed the house and wouldn't have to be back. Ferris thought of the Grand. Of how Jenna seemed fine. How he knew she would be ok. Part of that was a relief. He cared about his friend, so of course he needed her to be ok. But he also felt foolish for letting himself care. What was he left with now? They'd never come back. Maybe she'd write, but what was the point? It was done now. He couldn't let himself feel all of this, especially when he probably imagined how nice it really was.

As they passed the Forks sign Ferris let himself tune his parents, the lonely thoughts, and the two weeks out. He'd had enough.

Back in town Jenna was counting. There was only two stoplights between the hotel and leaving town. And she was sure she knew once Ferris was gone. She felt her stomach sink, but didn't let it show. Instead she pushed away from the window and made herself slide down the banister. When Marigold didn't scold her, Jenna shook her head as her name was gently called.

"I'm loads behind on my reading after all that play. Just gonna go to our rooms and catch up." But she didn't look back as she scurried out. Didn't hum or trail her fingers on the wall. And there was her giveaway, even if she didn't know it.

Past the kitchens she moved to the hallway that led to the innkeepers quarters. There were a scattering of rooms, some that had once been guestrooms used for family members of the hotel workers. Now, two adjoining rooms were for Jenna and Phillip. She pulled her key out, and letting herself into her room, cocked her head to listen for her Papa. She heard some muffled wailing and figured him distracted enough in his rehearsing.

Going to the bed she kicked off her walking shoes before climbing on, and pulled out a book from beneath her pillow. Crossing her legs, Jenna slipped the photograph in the book, bumping others she kept in there. Easier to store in a book when you traveled as much as she and Papa did. Running her hands over the brim she felt the tears burning but once more pushed them back as she heard the adjoining door creak.

"Thought I heard a break in." Phillip strolled over, and plopped on the side of the bed with the ease of someone thirty years younger than he. "Was hopeful it was that boy. I take it he didn't stow away from those people."

"His parents." Jenna sighed as she put the book back.

"Nasty things those."

"Maybe this weekend will help them. Her parents are gone, maybe packing up the house for sale made her sad enough to notice him." Jenna glanced over at the wooden cross she'd placed on a bookshelf, and remembered when she at six helped pack up a house.

Phillip reached over and held her socked foot. Jenna waited for him to let out a peal of laughter or burst into a cheering song. Anything to distract from the serious and shift the mood. Expecting it, Jenna's eyes narrowed when instead she saw him staring out the dismal ground level window.

"You know, Marigold has ideas about this place. It's looking like the owners are bending with them, but I'm sure it'll be a long process."

"Ideas, like we have to leave?"

"The opposite. She wants to work with the theatre to add apartments for the cast and crew. Change the connecting spaces so the innkeeper's quarters are attached rather than guests. If she can pull it off, could be…"

"We'd move in to one of the apartments?" She didn't dare to let herself hope yet.

"Now rêve, you know we're ramblers at the heart." Once again Phillips expression was younger than his years. "But it's been encouraged that we have some root somewhere. I imagine we'll always come back here. It'll look better to any hoity toitys that we have a base."

Jenna knew there had been times in the two years she'd been with her Papa that other folks had voiced concerned. She knew what social services was and knew how to keep a low profile about it. But there were always folks who judged.

"I think that would be nice." Jenna smiled.

"Do you?" Phillip nodded. "Then how can we not? But for now we still have a weekend before I need to put you back in that place."

"School."

"Watch your mouth. So I think we need a breather. Quick jot to Seattle maybe? No that's far too expected. Portland. I'll bet the Portland Theater has a fine show we can crash."

Tactic recognized Jenna perked up her smile and hopped to the floor, heaving her suitcase from beneath the bed. Phillip rushed up and flew into his room screeching about packing nothing but comfort socks.

Alone, Jenna gathered what she considered vital for a short trip, adding five dollars from her pocket money. She tugged her pillowcase off and added it along with the afghan she felt jazzed up any hotel room. Grabbing a book for reading, she then added her book of pictures, pausing to once more take out the one that Ferris had given her.

Marigold must have taken it as they dashed out for one of their outings. It showed Ferris already walking ahead trailing one hand on the fence that surrounded the Grand. The other hand reached back, Jenna was a blur running to reach it. The coloring showed it to be near sundown, so everything was set to a golden orange hue.

Jenna imagined that's why Ferris gave it to her, knowing it was her favorite color. Or maybe it was for the magic. Here she had proof of her very first friend. She'd had enough people she cared about to believe she'd make a true friend one day. But she never knew it could be like this. Realizing what could exist was enough to have Jenna believing it was possible she would see Ferris again. And that could keep the sadness at bay.

As could a glance at the next picture sitting in her book of herself with Phillip and the hotel staff. Giving a grateful smile to Marigolds image, Jenna went over to her already packed school bag and pulled out a tiny roll of tape. Fixing some to the back of the picture she taped it to a corner of the mirror behind the bureau. The first picture she'd hung in the space would remind her it was ok to hope that this would be home. She would write that in her first letter to Ferris.

And it would be enough.

**NOW**

The rain had stopped but neither of them noticed. Neither had moved over much, but Gilly did now, rising and walking to the kitchen.

Ethan scrubbed a hand over his face, hearing a drawer open and close. His eyes followed Gilly as she came back and tossed a menu at him.

"I want mozzarella sticks and extra marinara." She plopped back down on the couch, expelling a sigh much like the cushions.

"Comfort food?" Ethan's lips managed to quirk as he flipped through the take out options.

"I feel like I've been more like him than her, but both of them pull at me. It helps a little to she she's ok. I'm sure that's what helps you, tenfold with all you've probably seen her do. But she was just as lonely as he was."

"Just better at coping with it." Ethan nodded. "We always say Jenna Anne's prime skill is handling things. I only know that story from the times I've heard it, but she was very much like that when we met. She built her own world to deal with what this one tossed at her. And Ferris, well." Flicking a finger on the shiny page Ethan shook his head.

"I don't imagine everyone can manage the bad things at that age. Can't blame a child's instinct being to block it out."

"No and we never did. What came later, that's different."

Gilly leaned over and tapped the menu. "Order first, then we go into the next round."


	25. Return of the Authors Note

Jiminy. I wasn't posting for a hot minute. I remember when I was a reader on here I wouldn't click on a story that wasn't complete for this very reason. _What if this is it, they just stopped at Chapter 20 and I'll never know the ending, I'm not risking that, nope._ I imagine that's what people still do, and I just upped the risk factor with not updating for what? A month? Shit it wasn't two was it? Yikes. Oh well. Your girl is nearly a decade older than her last go around and has one of those career things to go with a whole ass life so a writing schedule is a thing of the past. I see there are views on this adventure I'm having though so fret not, it will be finished for that alone. Besides I've been seeing it awhile, and now that I'm bashing it out, I see it all the time. So even when I'm not actually writing, these people are with me. Writing is essentially a form of schizophrenia. And still, I'm excited every time I get to pull it off.

I hope you reader folk are enjoying it too.

Happy Halloween, watch some Hocus Pocus.


	26. A Tony and Maria Moment

**Now **

Ethan slapped a hand on the couch cushion and scowled. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"That's your argument? You're only proving my point by getting defensive." Gilly shoved away and paced.

"I took the damn test Gilda. I know what it said. If you're going to doubt the mind of our creator well then there's the door."

"To my own apartment." Gilly heard the shrill in her voice and fought for calm. "God. You're cracked."

"Says the one doubting our creator!"

"I am not doubting her. I am stating that by facts, there may have been an error."

"The map never lies, the test is built the same, and you can't convince me otherwise."

"Because I'm younger?" Now Gilly advanced back to the couch. "If you say it's because you've been in this longer, I swear to…"

"You haven't been studying as long is all….." The rest of his words were in a muffle as a pillow was yanked up and thrown over him. "Smothering me won't change your lack of know how."

"But it'll sure feel good." Gilly leaned back. "Stubborn jackass."

"Sounds like a Gryffindor to me." Ethan pat her knee. "Don't worry darlin, I'd be wound tight too if I'd been sorted into Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw is a wonderful house. They all are. My suggesting you share a lot of traits with Hufflepuff is not an insult."

"Of course not. Jenna is one. And I shouldn't poke at Ravenclaw's seeing as Cole is. The insult is accusing me and good ol JK of not knowing my house."

"Fine fine." Gilly reached for a mozzarella stick and tore it in half, offering it. "Truce?"

They clicked the halves once and Ethan smirked. "Not going to do a dance over Cole being Ravenclaw?"

"I thought he'd be Gryffindor. Maybe I do need to brush up. A little." She qualified. "Each of you being in different ones is surprising I suppose."

"Was to us too. Pottermore came out right when Jenna and Cole were wrapping up college. We figured we had to all be Gryffindor. With how our lives went down, and us being similar to the trio, c'mon." Ethan grinned. "Jenna was so pissed."

"But it fits. Well. Except you." Gilly accepted the shoulder bump, and leaned back on the couch. "What about Summer? Was she around for that?"

Ethan nodded, his grin lowered. "Summer and Ferris got the same house."

Gilly quirked a brow. "Slytherin."

"Now, don't get prejudice."

"So Ferris was back by then."

"Yes and no. Round two?"

Gilly clicked her phone and peeked at the readout. "We have a few more hours before I need to go in."

"We'll see how far we get. There are some things, I want to shield her from telling. There are others I hope she'll share. But their round two, that's simple enough. She wrote him letters, just as she promised. I think it was once a week at first and then she'd keep it to when she felt she had something to share that he would enjoy or reminded her of him. That was after she knew he wasn't going to respond. She did that for eight years."

"Without any replies?"

"They never came back, so she hoped they were at least getting to him. She didn't know for sure for a long while. But yeah, she kept at it. When we met her, it wasn't too long after that she told us the same story I told you. She shrugged off the letters, said it was just something simple she could do to cheer up a fellow loner." Ethan laughed once. "Such a liar."

"I'm not sure. I think she would have done it for anyone even if they had been just a fellow loner."

"You're not wrong. After a while it turned into make believe for her. She'd say _'I'm sending a letter to the Jolly Roger on this day, sure hope it's a comfort for these hard times at sea.'_ or something like that. And if I'm being honest Cole and I never paid it much mind. She was ok, there wasn't a reason to dig deeper. But then, he came back. His mother had put up with his father being an alcoholic but put her foot down when he started having more public affairs than his usual discrete ones. He repaid that with taking off. Left a check on a table. I didn't know that then of course. All I knew is one day in February a new student walked into our English class.

"Was it Valentine's Day?" Gilly caught the sigh and cleared her throat. "I'm never this cheesy. Does this story turn action anytime soon?"

"Oh kid. You haven't figured it out yet? That's not my part to tell."

**Then**

Every life has a set of moments that help shape what follows. How we choose to react to those moments ripple out more than we realize. In room 302 of Forks High School, a tenth grade English class was filling up awaiting after the final bell's song. No one in that class thought the day to be anything special. There wasn't a quiz they were stressing or a football game that night they were looking forward to. And still, it was the day that more than one life changed.

In the middle of the grouping of desks, Jenna continued her word scramble while reaching a hand up for the bottled frappachino that Ethan passed her. He took his spot at the desk diagonal of hers, and proceeded to flirt with the girl to his left. When the teacher came in and started the day, Jenna was eagerly attentive, while Ethan was eagerly attempting a Saturday night movie date. So the feeling took that extra second to wash over him.

Jenna however, idly thumbed the pages of the play the class was studying and looked over to see the principal knocking. Giving her attention back to the play, her stomach jittered a moment in what at the time she wrote off as a tenseness whenever an authority figure was near. She should have recognized the similarity to how she felt trying to sleep the night before Christmas.

Mr. Viack walked over to the principal and nodded at the student just behind them. He then got the classes attention.

"Ok everyone, settle down. We have a new student starting today, let's pretend to be a classroom of manners."

Offering her smile, Jenna glanced back towards the doorway. The boy was tall and stocky. His brown hair was in a weeks old buzz cut. He didn't seem particularly interested in his first new class of the day, but gave a solemn smile as he glanced around. Jenna felt a clutch again. It was as though her body knew what was happening a second before she did. His glance trailed past her, before his eyes snapped back, and held hers.

It was a beat of time. Too short to be noticed by anyone except them, and the other who felt what passed over the air. Ethan watched as the new guy sized up the room, only to freeze at Jenna. He watched his oldest friend, who had always been pretty laid back, transform from excited to serene and then as the new student looked away Jenna nodded as if to scold herself.

"This is Ferris O'Brien. Be welcoming would you?" Mr. Viack gestured to the empty seats and turned back to the front of the room.

Ferris walked over to the desk closest to the door, and sat without another look towards Jenna. She too hadn't looked back, except to cross her eyes at Ethan when he finally caught her glance. But it was enough for Ethan to question.

The class was over for only seconds before he pounced.

"Well?"

Though her eyes narrowed at the tone, she kept hers easy. "I'll be happy when we've moved on to Shakespeare." She replied and then muttered when Ethan blocked her way. "Sometimes Mommy finds boys attractive and takes a gander, it's nothing for you to worry about."

"Now I've seen you check a guy out Shine, but this was a whole other thing." For safety he shouldered her bag so she couldn't take off further than the hallway. "Well." He repeated.

"You remember my letters to the boy that stayed at the Grand?"

"The ones you 100% still write from time to time, yeah I remember."

"That's him."

"That's….the new guy?!" Ethan let out a breath as Jenna's elbow connected.

"Yes, but I don't expect he remembers that, so there's no need to be loud."

"The look you two had says otherwise."

"It says sometimes the boys find me attractive right back, who could blame him." She did a shoulder wiggle as she yanked her bag back. "But if he remembered he would have…..doesn't matter. It was just a couple of weeks almost ten years ago, of course he doesn't remember. He never even wrote back."

"Jenna…."

She looked up with a smile. "It's ok. I'm curious as to why he's here of course, but I'm sure the school will have the whole report soon enough. If you make friends with him, or steer him in the direction of the right group that'd be nice. He used to be a shy boy, I don't know if he grew out of it. But leave me out, ok?"

"You're embarrassed." Ethan realized with surprise.

"A little." But she shrugged it off. "I've thought the letters weren't getting to him for a while now, and figured he didn't remember me. But when I saw him. I guess I forgot that for a moment. Silly." She shrugged again and nodded to her next class. "I ought to get in. Don't worry so much, there's a lot of people who have come in and out of the Grand, he's just another."

But as Ethan watched her walk away, he knew it was the first time she wasn't being entirely truthful to him.

After he got into his own class and the teacher began, Ethan mulled it over for a few minutes. That year they weren't grouped into any classes all three of them, so it was safe to say they spent their days creatively working around that. For that period, Cole was down the hall and Ethan didn't see a reason to wait much longer. He raised his hand and asked for the hall pass. As he passed the door window of Cole's class, he searched a moment before he found him and jerked his head towards the bathrooms without waiting for Cole's answering gesture.

When Cole joined him, he shook his head. "If this is to brag about a new date achieving record I don't want to hear it."

"You heard about the new kid yet?"

"O'Brien? He's in my class now. You switching teams? I'll support you."

Ethan ignored him and leaned a hip on the sink. "He's the one Jenna wrote those letter to. The kid from the Grand."

"Rich boy? Wow. Wasn't he only here for his grandparent's funeral?"

"To sell a house I think, must have been theirs. Long time to wait to move back if they liked the area. You hear a scoop?"

"Stevenson made him do the old stand and tell us about yourself. He said he and his mom just moved to the area. Only child. Looking forward to checking out our baseball team."

"He and Jenna had a Tony and Maria moment when he got to class. She's playing it different, but that's what it was."

"No kidding." Cole knocked against the wall. "He talk to her?"

"Nope. She thinks he doesn't remember and was only checking her out."

"You think different?"

"I don't think I've looked at anyone that way and I've checked out my fair share. And I've never seen her look like that. Or be flustered when I brought it up."

"Hmmmm."

"My thoughts exactly." Ethan agreed. "She asked me not to mention her if he and I meet."

"But if he mentions her….."

Ethan pointed to his nose and back at Cole. "Just keep the ears perked and so will I." He clapped Cole on the back as they moved to the door.

The plan they had proved to be unnecessary in the weeks that came. Ferris adjusted to the new school but never asked about Jenna. Never looked at her like he had that first day. And she responded in kind. But as the boys were watching, they noticed a bit more. Whether Ferris remembered Jenna or not wasn't a concern when it was obvious to any who really looked that something often passed between them.

It wasn't all that dissimilar to how the three were around each other. Forks had grown accustomed enough to Ethan Jenna and Cole's radar when one entered the room, or looking over as if hearing something, only to communicate without words. Being accustomed as they were may be a reason why word never seemed to get around about the oddness between the new student and the three friends.

Jenna and Ferris didn't even speak to one another until April of that term. Mr. Viack, had been a diehard believer that Shakespeare's works couldn't be read and understood, they needed to be performed. As such, he'd assign certain scenes for just that. Thinking the granddaughter of a theatre actor could help a new student come out of his shell, assigning Jenna and Ferris to a passage from Much Ado About Nothing seemed a natural choice.

Ethan watched as Jenna eagerly stood after hearing her name called to be Beatrice. He knew it was her favorite play and her grabbing the book for reference wasn't necessary as she'd known much of it by heart. When Mr. Viack called Ferris to be Benedick however, the mood shifted. Jenna's fingers tightened on the book as she leaned on the corner of Mr. Viack's desk. Ferris concerned himself with flipping pages as he walked up.

Mr. Viack set the Act II scene of the masquerade ball and the class's Beatrice and Benedick moved to stand side by side, as though surveying a dance. As they began the classic bantering, Jenna and Ferris spoke for the first time in eight years.

_Nor will you not tell me who you are?_

_Not now. _

At Ferris's reply Ethan would have slammed his head against the desk in frustration, if it wasn't for what he was seeing. He knew Jenna could put on an acting hat when it suited her, but he heard enough about Ferris to know he didn't say a sentence when two words would do. Yet there he was, lines flowing with ease, angling his body so he leaned down a touch to be closer. Jenna tilting her head and shifting so their stances were mirror. Mr. Viack nodded at the byplay, clearly pleased. Their synced move forward mimicked Beatrice and Benedick though Ferris took some liberty in grasping Jenna's arms and spun her as though approaching a floor to dance.

Jenna's answering laugh was muted by the class clapping as their scene ended. Ferris cleared his throat as they took Mr. Viack's requested bows and without another look her way returned to his seat. When she took hers, Ethan rubbed a hand over her shoulder. She threw him a quick smile over it, and seemed well enough when the bell rang before another scene could begin.

Neither of them noticed that she left her copy of Much Ado where she'd tossed it during the scene enactment. Nor did they notice Ferris pick it up and dip it into his backpack.

**Now**

Gilly paused from taking a drink of water and motioned to Ethan. "And?"

"And, that was the last interaction they had before we met Summer." He clapped his hands for the water bottle, and caught it neatly.

"But you said that was in April. You met Summer at the start of the next year."

"That's right. Now we're caught up. I should have started with them as I said…"

"This is bullshit." Gilly sat back and crossed her arms. "You're telling me they danced around it that whole time?"

"And for a while after. A long while. Cole's parents died not long after that class. After that Jenna didn't focus on anyone outside of us. None of did until Summer. That's why I'm telling it this way, but if you're frustrated think of how we felt living it."

"Why didn't she call him out?" Gilly tried to imagine it. "To have those memories and feel that pull. Was it really just because she didn't believe he remembered her?"

Ethan shrugged. "I can tell you what happened. Jenna would have to tell you why. But I can say the way they were drawn to each other back then and later was very intense. To feel that about someone you technically barely know…it's a lot for two sixteen year olds to know what to do with."

"That's what you think?"

"That's what Ferris told me later." Ethan smiled.

Gilly returned it but her tone was still frustrated. "That's something at least. But it remains bullshit. Three ten year olds felt as intense a bond as I've ever heard, and none of you thought twice about it." She waved her arms as she rose. "Ugh. Let's leave the past for now. The present day version can walk me to work."

"I'd love that."

"I'll just get changed." But Gilly paused and turned back. "Cole has told me stories of you three as children. Some older. You've told me about the others that came later. Your relationships."

Ethan stretched lazily. "Mhm."

"So what's Jenna's part to tell?"

"As a smart twenty four year old feeling a part of this intense bond, I give you not long before you guess it."

For the time being however, they put it aside and enjoyed a walk under the clearing twilight sky. Part of Gilly's mind was already spinning what she wanted to write of Jenna and Ferris. She was also already jumping ahead, imagining what could be coming next. If Ethan's tone and expression was anything to bet on, she had to believe eventually Ferris and Jenna got wise. Wise enough for him to grow a friendship with him. And there was no telling what happened with him and Summer.

Throughout her shift she wondered on the things she heard, and felt. Ethan was right, she was in the story now and new she felt her own tugs of the bond that he described. And even curiosity for the others she knew stood where she did now. In a logical sense Gilly thought she should be worried that if those others were gone now, where would that leave her down the road? Would she lose them all too? But when she searched herself all she felt was a certainty. Which was something to fear as well so soon, but she couldn't quite muster it. Not when her reason for excitement and contentment walked through the bar doors ten minutes before close.

Gilly signaled to her manager that she knew Cole and without having to ask him, he took a seat at the end of the bar and waited patiently. He looked tired from his own day's work yet all but lit the room as he watched her close up.

"First Ethan walks me in, now you're here to see me home, I'll be spoiled within a week."

"Heard he bought you lunch, couldn't be upstaged."

"How was the wedding?"

"Great. All was indoors so the weather didn't slow them down. I was pumped they were game for a few shots after it let up though. Evening light when it's still damp photographs great."

"A Washington boy would know." Gilly leaned over for his kiss before making a grab for his camera.

"No way. I need to tweak them a bit first. But here, you can see this one."

A few clicks gave way to an image of Gilly through the bar window. She was drying a glass and staring off as though she were miles away.

"I don't look very professional."

"You just haven't turned off the other profession. The story is in your eyes." Cole put his camera back in his bag. "Ethan caught me up."

"Are you ok with it?"

"I think it's the right thing. It was for us to give it a breather too, but I think we can do both. And if he wants to take over some of the telling before he leaves, then the more of a breather you and I have with the story anyways."

"I have to say, I enjoyed your stories better. I have a feeling the Summer and Ferris ones are going to be a bit more difficult."

"All lives have their things." Cole swiped her coat as they headed out and helped Gilly into it. "That's what Jenna tries to keep us thinking that is." He tugged on her collars and snuck another kiss before taking her hand to leave.

As they walked Cole asked her what direction the new additions were taking her in. And was curious more when she told him she was writing fragments rather than a whole piece, and she' figure out later how she wanted it to come together. Despite his questions, Jenna felt the story drift away and instead could only notice the heat spreading through her as Cole's arm moved to wrap around her waist while she leaned the side of her face against him. He's tired she thought. Part of his own mind must surely be clicked towards the pictures he took and how he would edit them. He'd likely been on his feet all day. And there he was, nearing midnight, not only still on those feet to walk her home, but asking her about her own work. His face lit with both fatigue and interest. And every so often, something warmer when her face tipped up to his.

When they reached her apartment and she dug out her keys, she didn't say anything but wrap her arm in his to keep him along. And he didn't say anything when she tugged off his camera bag and coat, only to take his hand again. Both of them were silent as they crept across Gilly's shared hall and into her room.

Once the lock hit home, Gilly turned back against the door and Cole again took her hand. Bringing it to his face, he pushed her hair back with his other and searched her eyes. His smile spread as did hers, and their hands broke apart to travel and share.

After, Gilly lay sprawled across Cole, tracing up and down his jaw and sighing as his hands did the same across her back. When they looked at one another they broke out into a quiet laughter, and wrapped their arms around each other tight. So when Cole fell asleep and Gilly sat at her desk, what she typed wasn't the stories of young love that she heard that day. Bringing up her shoulders and tilting her head to one as she looked at the screen, the words that flew from her hands were her own love story.

Maybe one day she'd tell it, maybe not. For now, it was just for her.

_Happy New Year! _

_I posted my first chapter of my first story on here on 12/31/2009. Now on my thirteenth story, I'm so happy to finish the decade how I started it. Thank you all who are still here from that day and all who are new._

_Love, JB_


	27. Every Superhero Movie Ever

**Cole**

While the pacific northwest in him may have reveled at the morning light, Cole barely stifled a wince as strip of sunlight came through the blinds. He guessed it to be around eight, and while that was a reasonable time, he wished for a bit more on a Sunday. But as he looked at the one curled next to him, any complaint didn't stand a chance. Even if she had claimed every square inch of the bed she could.

Her hair was around her face in tufts, falling from her habitual bun at the top of her head. Cole realized his hand was cupped at the back of it, and indulged himself in running his fingers over the smooth locks escaping. His system tilted as he found he didn't want to wake up to another view. Things wouldn't always be as simple as they were this morning, but Cole would always want to wake up and see Gilly's messy hair against his hand.

As the thoughts and feelings swirled in his mind he eased his hand back and quietly shifted out of bed. Checking his phone he saw two missed texts from the night before in a group message, neither surprising.

(E) Shine, our boy is not sleeping in his bed this night

(J) Good, an inside man to this young and free lifestyle the TV speaks of. Pun intended.

Cole rolled his eyes once as he thought up a response and sent it. Looking down he saw the streak of sun that had woken him up was now hovering over one of Gilly's hands. Clicking on his phone camera, he angled it and moved to crouch as he tapped the screen to focus. Her palm was up, fingers slightly curled as if cupping that light. The line of it ran up the pillow and empty space of bed he'd vacated. The sheets were wrinkled from their weight, the pillow sunken from his head. Half her hand leaned against the empty pillow, both holding the light and reaching. Cole looked back at the shots he captured and grinned. He was gathering quite the array of a Gilly Lind collection.

He didn't feel quite as tired now that his creative side had gotten a jolt, so he saw two choices. He could go into the living space so he didn't disturb Gilly and start working on editing the wedding rolls. Or.

Gilly's curses were impressive as Cole flopped over her and rolled until she was hovering half off the bed, half in his arms. "What the hell are you doing?!" She screeched and then whimpered. "No No No. We just went to sleep, it's not morning."

"It is, and here I thought you'd like to try the comfort of when the other bed party takes up as much space as humanly possible."

"I was tired. And it's _my_ bed. And it's for sure the middle of the night. Away with you." With impressive strength she shoved until they rolled back, but the momentum sent her over Cole. "Damnit." She had time to exclaim before they both toppled off the other side, knocking her desk on the way in the small room. She was half huffing from the bone rattling fall, half laughing as she saw the tissue box from her desk land on Cole's head. "My neighbors are going to think I'm having chandelier swinging sex, but no. I get awoken with a death match."

"The romance of it will speak to the generations." Cole looked up as he rubbed his elbow. "Plus you don't have a chandelier handy."

Gilly reached up and pushed some of his hair back from his forehead. "So my bed hogging woke you up did it?"

"That, and the sun coming in. Then I got a look at you and the work juices started pumping."

Looking down at the underwear and tshirt she managed to pull on after round two Gilly's eyes narrowed. "You took a photo of me like this."

Cole scoffed. "Please." Reaching a hand up to the desk where he'd left his phone he showed her.

"Hmm. Well someone doesn't need coffee to get the talent flowing." She shook her head as she swiped. "How do you make something every day look like that?"

"It's you." He said simply, planting a kiss at the top of her head before helping her up.

"If we're up we should probably head over to your place. Or did you want to have solo time with Ethan since you're not working today?"

I wasn't the first time he heard three words in his head when he was around her, but still he hadn't found the way to make them a reality yet. So instead he tugged a stray tendril of her hair and kept the words in with another kiss.

"I've had eighteen years with the guy."

"And you don't want to do a walk of shame."

"It would be this year's Christmas card."

"Please tell me that's not you being quippy and that the three of you really do have combined cards each year."

"Remind me to show you 2003's."

**Ethan**

Balancing a carton of eggs, a box of Eggos and a pound of bacon Ethan waited in line at the corner deli. The trip came after growling at his phone and the text from Cole that said simply "Incoming, cook something." Staring at the items again as he placed them on the counter, he considered the job done. He hadn't slept well, but knew he'd bounce back once Cole was back. And Ethan had to admit, Gilly too.

It had been too long since someone outside of the three of them had gotten involved. He saw that now, and imagined Jenna did as well. Cole would have his worries, but they needed this. Someone else to share with, someone else to get excited about and check in on. It would be a good thing, even if he did occasionally have to crawl out of bed to hit a deli.

Ethan let himself back into the apartment as Keith was barreling from bathroom to his bedroom at top speed.

"It won't do." He kept repeating to himself, until he spotted Ethan and could fire upon him. "Did you hear that?!"

"I didn't do, say, or feel whatever it is you're on a tear about. Unless it's eat the last of the eggos, cuz I did that." He juggled the paper bag. "Rectified though."

"The man leaves this place in a state, and goes off to have premarital sex."

"To be fair you're having premarital sex Kei…but that's not the point" Ethan nodded as Keith advanced on him. "Absolutely not the point. Now could you chill it some and fill me in on why you want Cole's blood at nine in the morning?"

"You didn't see his room?" Keith followed Ethan to the kitchen.

"I was half alive when I rolled from couch to bathroom and out the door so no I did not see Cole's room."

"You weren't in yours?"

"I had the cushions right where I wanted them." Ethan placed the eggs in the fridge and straightened when he caught Keith's expression. "Why."

Keith started leading him back towards the rooms. "I thought it was just some sort of creative fit."

"Cole is famous for them." Ethan trailed off as he looked into Cole's room. The bed was still made, but covered with every paper Cole seemed to own. Some pictures were strewn about, though nothing looked damaged. Notes from his job at PIN caught Ethan's eye, but Keith called his name before he could move closer.

"But your window is open. You really didn't sleep in there? Open it and be one of those crazy need the room freezing fits?" Keith's fit faded to concern.

Ethan walked in, glanced around as his jaw tightened. His expression smoothed as he turned. "C'mon Keith, we'd know if someone was in here. TVs are still here and all. I probably forgot to close it yesterday. My bad."

"Cole's room though."

"He and Gilly are gonna be here soon, I'll grill him."

Keith relaxed enough to lean on the door jam. "I was getting stuff together to go to Mark's, should I stay just in case?"

"We weren't robbed Keith, I promise."

"Yeah, well, you let me know if anything turns up missing. I'll not come back to my room in that state." Keith waved a hand at Cole's room and picked up his backpack from the hall floor. "You're still going to stop by Mark's for dinner before you leave right?"

"How else will I find out his intentions?"

Keith laughed like Ethan had hoped and clapped him on the back before heading out. Ethan pulled out his phone and calculating the time difference to Washington, figured it too early, even for Jenna's early rising habit. No sense in riling her when he wasn't sure.

And still, closing Cole's door a familiar feeling nagged. He tried to put it out of his mind once he went back to the kitchen to pop some eggos in the toaster and start on the eggs. He'd have to tell Cole of course but it was beginning to be obvious Gilly wasn't far off from being told either. Cole would wish it differently, but there wouldn't be another way. They didn't keep secrets from those they loved unless they had to. And as Cole came through the door with Gilly Ethan knew his friend had fallen the rest of the way.

"What a display of domesticity." Gilly laughed as she turned into the kitchen. "Is there coffee?"

"No one should be that chipper before coffee, Cole you must have taken my lessons."

"Were there demonstrations, I want a visual to carry." Gilly elbow bumped Ethan's back as she reached for a cabinet.

While she measured out coffee Ethan sent Cole a look, and jerked his head when Cole stiffened.

"I'm going to put my stuff away." Cole gestured with his camera bag.

"Since I'm the only one not getting any, you finish the breakfast Gilda."

"Awww poor boy." Gilly ran a hand down his arm as she took the spatula. "You're lucky I'm feeling mellow or I'd point out all of your certain womanizing."

"I have nev….we're going to fight about this in a minute." Ethan pointed before walking out "Womanizing. Of all the…" He sighed as he rounded to Cole's room. "Ok you're wigging."

"Not a time for joking." Cole raked his hands through his hair as her surveyed the room. "Why the hell didn't you call me?"

"I didn't know. I knocked out on the couch, Keith raised the alarm this morning after I already knew you were coming over. He thinks you had some sort of disorganizing fit, I didn't discourage that."

"You didn't hear anything?"

"Nothing. And I'm guessing neither did Keith. So that solidifies the them theory as much as I'd rather it didn't."

Cole looked at the pictures scattered across his bed. "What did they get?"

"Nothing is missing anywhere else in the apartment. Looks like they were looking for info." Ethan hesitated. "Your work papers were out. Ones for PIN." Ethan watched Cole shake his head. "Look, we have to get back out there. We knew this was coming, and now we can prepare for it. I'll call Jenna later and fill her in."

"And you think I should tell Gilly."

"Sooner is safer than later, but that's still up to you. It's kind of gonna suck either way. You know that."

"I just want this to be normal." Cole put up his hands. "I don't hate our life Eth, I don't. But this? I haven't been here before. I wanted to experience it."

Ethan thought of all the supportive things he could say or relatable advice. So he smacked Cole on the back of the head. "You are experiencing it, idiot. Our lives were never going to be storybook. Buck up."

"You two have fifteen seconds to get out here before I eat all this myself." Gilly shouted from the kitchen.

"I don't know which of you helps me more, it's overwhelming." Cole gathered up the pictures and papers and tossed them on his desk.

"What's worse," Ethan raised his voice as they walked back to the kitchen. "Is your girlfriend seems to classify me as a womanizer."

"Gilly Lind." Cole gasped before kissing her cheek and snatching a plate.

"And she meant it Cole. She meant it." Ethan glared as Gilly passed him and curled up on the sofa with her breakfast.

"I didn't call him a womanizer, I said he obviously has partaken in womanizing. Totally different statements." Gilly curled her feet under her. "Look me in the face and tell me you and that" She gestured with her eggo "all that you got going on….didn't reel in all the ladies."

"What's all that he's got going on?" Cole wondered only to wipe eggo crums off his arm when Gilly switched gestures. "Gilly, just because the man is gorgeous"

"Thanks buddy"

"You're welcome. Just because he is, doesn't mean he's a no good womanizer. He has been perfectly decent to all his millions."

"Millions, really?" Ethan whistled. "What a career."

Gilly rolled her eyes. "Least you're admitting I'm right, you've gotten plenty a lady so you can't bitch about…"

"Do not gesture at us with the eggo again." Cole shook his head. "Relationship, you'd call it a relationship. Well, you woulda."

Ethan's head fell back as Gilly's snapped to Cole. "Woulda?" Her eyes narrowed. "You woulda called it that?"

"Freaking amateur." Ethan mumbled.

"Please tell me that's not how you break things off. I can't kill someone in Brooklyn the morning after the first time we sleep together. That's not how I go down."

"No it's not, you go down in a hail of explosions I'm sure of it. And also, I'm not helping." Ethan pointed at Cole who pointed back.

Gilly sighed and put her plate on the coffee table. "Ok whatever is going on hit me with it and hit me quick." She settled back and looked to Cole.

"I'm not ending things, I worded it that way because you might want to."

"Somethings happened then, you were fine this morning."

"I was because I didn't think I would need to….but now it's….there are things I haven't told you."

"If that's not the start to every superhero movie ever. Though maybe less articulate."

Ethan snorted into his coffee mug. "Holy shit, first try."

"What?!" Gilly sat up straight.

"You had your turn doing this and you botched it to high hell, why are you ruining mine?" Cole grabbed the remote and chucked it at Ethan.

"Fine, I'll leave you to it."

Gilly stayed facing Cole but snapped her fingers and pointed to the chair. "You stay right there. And you." She took a breath and shook her head. "I don't know what's going on but I can see whatever it is has you a little freaked out over telling me. The only thing I ask is you don't lie to me. You don't hold back over some fear for me or for me leaving. I'm not moving."

Ethan smiled at Gilly's back and felt his own shoulders loosen with Cole's. "He hasn't lied to you. None of us ever will. A part of our past has come knocking, and it's not a pretty part."

"Ok. I'm sorry your hand is being forced then. I'm going to do the dishes so there's nothing we can all throw if this gets dicey." As Gilly gathered she rubbed a hand down Cole's arm.

Ethan gripped the mug handles in one hand while using the other to throw the remote back at Cole. Both gestures seemed to resolve Cole into the task at hand. Following Gilly, he placed the mugs at the counter and hip bumped her as she ran the water.

"I can kick off somewhere if it would make you more comfortable."

"You being here will help him."

"I didn't ask about him."

Gilly tipped her head to his shoulder for a second. "I really home you guys don't travel the world killing children because I've grown quite fond of you." She straightened and sighed. "I'm not uncomfortable, so you stay. Though I am wondering if I should suggest he wait for Jenna though since I'm sure it's about the three of you."

"Probably best it's just us for now. I'll call her later."

"Alright." Gilly shut off the water and squared her shoulders as they walked back into the living room. "Why do I feel like now we're in the part of the movie where my life changes?" She asked as she took her seat next to Cole.

Ethan tapped a fist on her jaw before sitting in the chair. "Ha, kid that moment passed, but now is when you see it." 


End file.
